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Thursday, July 08, 2004
There's been a lot of buzz about this, but this is the first big article I've seen re: the Bush administration's increasing pressure on Pakistan to produce HVTs (high-value targets, like Mullah Omar or even bin Laden) just in time for the elections. A third source, an official who works under ISI's director, Lieutenant General Ehsan ul-Haq, informed tnr that the Pakistanis "have been told at every level that apprehension or killing of HVTs before [the] election is [an] absolute must." What's more, this source claims that Bush administration officials have told their Pakistani counterparts they have a date in mind for announcing this achievement: "The last ten days of July deadline has been given repeatedly by visitors to Islamabad and during [ul-Haq's] meetings in Washington." Says McCormack: "I'm aware of no such comment." But according to this ISI official, a White House aide told ul-Haq last spring that "it would be best if the arrest or killing of [any] HVT were announced on twenty-six, twenty-seven, or twenty-eight July"--the first three days of the Democratic National Convention in Boston. We shall see.
posted by jeev |
8:17 PM |
 
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