Obama Says U.S. Will Consult With Pakistan on Terrorism Strikes

President Barack Obama said the U.S. will consult with Pakistan before raiding militant bases on Pakistani territory, as he called on leaders in Islamabad to be “much more accountable” in combating terrorism.

“If we have a high-value target within our sights, after consulting with Pakistan, we’re going after them,” Obama said in an interview on CBS television’s “Face the Nation” program yesterday. “But our main thrust has to be to help Pakistan defeat these extremists.”

The U.S. expects some accountability from Pakistan and its understanding of the “severity and the nature of the threat” from the terrorists.

Pakistan has told the U.S. it considers missile strikes on its territory counterproductive. The Pakistani government says it is doing all it can to combat militants and is pursuing a strategy of selective military action, coupled with political and economic development programs, to try to persuade tribal leaders to expel foreign fighters sheltering along the border with Afghanistan.

Thousands of Taliban and al-Qaeda members crossed into Pakistan’s tribal region after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001. The U.S. says al-Qaeda leaders have established bases in the area.

“Our plan does not change the recognition of Pakistan as a sovereign government,” Obama said in the interview taped on March 27. “We need to work with them and through them to deal with al-Qaeda. But we have to hold them much more accountable.”

Economic Aid

The U.S. will give Pakistan the “tools” to defeat al- Qaeda, the president said. Obama has endorsed legislation to increase economic and development aid to Pakistan to about $1.5 billion annually for five years in exchange for that country cracking down on militants.

“One of the concerns that we’ve had building up over the last several years is a notion, I think among the average Pakistani, that this is somehow America’s war and that they are not invested,” Obama said, according to a transcript. “That attitude, I think, has led to a steady creep of extremism in Pakistan and that is the greatest threat” to the government.

The U.S. must recognize that the task of working with Pakistan isn’t just military, he said. Development and aid assistance are part of the package.

Combating extremism both in Pakistan and Afghanistan involves a comprehensive strategy that “doesn’t just rely on bullets and bombs,” Obama said.

Sending Troops

It relies on “agricultural specialists, on doctors, on engineers, to help create an environment in which people recognize that they have much more at stake in partnering with us and the international community than giving in to some of these extremist ideologies,” he said.

Obama announced last week that he will send 4,000 more U.S. soldiers, in addition to the 17,000 military personnel he already has ordered for Afghanistan, to train Afghan forces to take a bigger role in providing security. The announcement came after a review of U.S. policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Pakistan last week denied a report in the Wall Street Journal that it has given the U.S. “tacit permission” to use drones to attack militants. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the government has told the U.S. it opposes such strikes.

U.S. missile strikes in Pakistan’s borderlands have been effective and more than half of an initial list of 20 top al- Qaeda leaders have been killed or captured during the past six months, the Journal reported.