Bush urged to back Gilani, not Musharraf, in combating militants

NEW YORK: - Stating that President Pervez Musharraf had been shored up "for far too long", an influential American daily Friday urged President George W. Bush to offer Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani "strong political and economic backing in exchange for a firm commitment to support Afghanistan's embattled government and fight Taliban and al Qaeda terrorism in Pakistan".

Mr. Gilani is scheduled to pay a visit to the United States later this month.

"Washington has made a lot of policy mistakes in Pakistan " most notably supporting Pervez Musharraf for far too long," The New York Times said in an editorial on the threat posed by what it called "swelling" forces of Taliban and al Qaeda fighters in Pakistan's border region. "It (Washington) has forfeited most of its credibility with the Pakistani people and reinforced their belief that the fight against extremism is 'Washington's war' and not also their own," The Times said.

"Both countries have a common and increasingly urgent interest in rolling back the power of al Qaeda and the Taliban and working together to promote democracy and development in Pakistan. President Bush needs to persuade Pakistan's leaders of that " and he needs to do it now, before Al Qaeda and the Taliban get any stronger".

The newspaper underlined the need for the U.S. to work with new government in Islamabad to establish spending priorities so as "to regain control" over the Pakistan military. The Pakistan Army has "too often been a law unto itself and intelligence services seem far more loyal to the extremists than their own government", The Times said.

The new government, it said, had deluded themselves that they can negotiate a separate peace with the Taliban leaders. However, it warned against sending American troops into Pakistan 's restive tribal border regions to clean out Taliban and al Qaeda forces.

"Sending United States troops into Pakistan's border regions to try to clean out Taliban and Al Qaeda forces is also not the answer " and would provoke even fiercer anti-American furies across Pakistan. The poorly paid, ill-trained and uncertainly loyal Frontier Corps in Pakistan is not up to the job," the editorial said.

"Pakistan's civilian leaders and the new military commander, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, will need to commit to fighting the extremists " for the sake of their own country's stability " and to sending in elite units specifically trained in counterinsurgency techniques. Local tribal leaders also need to be weaned away from the Taliban. That would only happen if Islamabad and Washington back their exhortations with substantial economic assistance."

The Bush administration has showered Pakistan with  more than USD 7 billion in military aid over the past six years, with "little of it actually being used for counterinsurgency purposes," it said. Over the same period, Washington has provided less than USD 3 billion in all other forms of assistance.