<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Despite the growing threat from Islamic extremists, President Pervez Musharraf said U.S. troops are not welcome to join the fight against al-Qaida on Pakistani soil. Musharraf warned in an interview published Friday that Pakistan would resist any unilateral military action by the United States against militants sheltering in its lawless, tribal regions close to the Afghan border. "I challenge anybody coming into our mountains," he told Singapore's The Straits Times in the interview, notable for its unusually strident language. "They would regret that day." The Pakistan-Afghan border has long been considered a likely hiding place for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his top deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, as well as a staging ground for Taliban militants planning attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan. 'In full cooperation' The New York Times reported last week that Washington was considering expanding the authority of the CIA and the U.S. military to launch aggressive covert operations within the tribal regions. Several U.S. presidential candidates have also hinted they would support unilateral action in the area. On Friday, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said that anything the U.S. has done, and anything it will do, has been "in full cooperation" with Pakistan's government. Musharraf said U.S. troops would "certainly" be considered invaders if they set foot in the tribal regions without his permission. A full transcript of the interview was published on the paper's Web site. Musharraf also said in the interview that he would resign if opposition parties tried to impeach him after parliamentary elections set for Feb. 18.</div> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22613874/ Thoughts?
Considering his position, it would shocking if Musharraf did think that he could get away with US troops coming in - even setting aside for the moment the fact that he's aware that the US isn't his biggest friend.
We won't be at war with them. Regional considerations alone preclude that. We might see closer Indo-US relations though.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (AEM @ Jan 12 2008, 08:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>We won't be at war with them. Regional considerations alone preclude that. We might see closer Indo-US relations though.</div> I agree. Strengthening realtions w/ India is a good idea anyway. If Musharraf gets any more testy, I'd cut back on the foreign aid.
