Strikes on al Qaeda forces eyed

The White House’s homeland security adviser said the administration is considering tactical strikes against al Qaeda forces in the autonomous tribal regions of Pakistan after a new national intelligence report says al Qaeda reconstituted its forces there.

The mountainous region, which lies alongside the border of Afghanistan, is thought by many to be the hide-out of Osama bin Laden.

White House aide Fran Townsend gave her remarks on “Fox News Sunday” and CNN’s “Late Edition” in response to questions about recent government reports that suggest al Qaeda forces took advantage of a 10-month-long truce between the government of Pervez Musharraf and Pakistan’s tribal leaders, which administration officials now say was a failure.

“Just because we don’t speak about things publicly doesn’t mean we’re not doing things you talk about,” said Ms. Townsend, when asked why the military hasn’t begun strikes against the reformed terrorist strongholds.

“Job No. 1 is to protect the American people,” she said. “There are no options off the table.”

Her comments were backed by National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell, who previously was a vocal critic of the administration’s handling of the Iraq war and other policies, including Mr. Musharraf’s truce.

“Al Qaeda has been able to regain some of its momentum,” he said yesterday during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “The leadership’s intact. They have operational planners, and they have safe haven. The thing they’re missing are operatives inside the United States.”

Several Democrats said that they think the war in Iraq distracted the military and political leaders from the pursuit of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan and that this served as a boon in recruitment for al Qaeda in Iraq.

Nonetheless, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, was adamant that the military should pursue terrorists regardless of their locations.

“We have the NIE report, which just came out, that says al Qaeda during this administration is stronger than ever. I don’t think we should take anything off the table,” he told CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “Wherever we find these evil people we should go get them.”

Pakistani officials defended their response, saying they began offensive operations against al Qaeda in the regions and took heavy casualties of their own in the effort.

“I know it’s a difficult situation. We’ve suffered casualties in the last three days,” said Pakistan’s foreign minister, Khurshid Kasuri during his own “Late Edition” interview. “What we need is actionable intelligence. We do not want, you know, something said just for the purpose of having an effect on American public opinion.”

However, Ms. Townsend also praised the Pakistani government, which reportedly was directly involved in the majority of successful operations against al Qaeda officials.

“We should also be clear that we believe Pakistan has been a very good ally in the war on terrorism,” she said.