US officials' tone changes

WASHINGTON - US intelligence and military officials are now speaking in positive terms about Pakistan as the anti-Taliban operation in the Swat region makes gains, contrasting sharply with their recent criticisms of the countrys inaction against the growing militants threat as also of its policies.
For the first time, the Pakistan Army operations in that part of the world have support of the government and the public. This is really different from the past, when the Army went up and there was little backing, US Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair told an audience of intelligence professionals Monday night.
He went on to say that there were new possibilities opening for Pakistan-American cooperation in this common fight against terrorism.
But it is true that there is a long legacy of distrust between Pakistan and the United States that we have to overcome as we move forward. And I think it can be done, he stated.
The Pakistani publics backing could fuel its militarys momentum in defeating the Taliban, Blair said. The history of US military operations has shown those without public support cant 'maintain that intensity needed for victory, he said.
Blair spoke to the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, an Arlington, Virginia-based group of industry and intelligence professionals.
The Pakistani military has taken into consideration the resettlement of civilians displaced by the fighting, said Blair, who recently visited the region.
Six weeks of fighting between Pakistani troops and Taliban insurgents has forced over two million people to flee their homes in the Swat Valley.
I think the Pakistanis I talked to were optimistic about their ability to handle the situation and were willing to work with the United States in ways that had not been previously possible, so I think there are signs that point us in a positive direction, he added.
Meanwhile, a Pentagon spokesman said that the United States would provide whatever assistance was required for their successful conclusion.
Wherever those threats exist, we would be encouraging of the Pakistani military taking it to them head on and defeating them, spokesman Geoff Morrell said at a briefing Monday.
He was quick to add that Washington was not advising Islamabad on the conduct of the operations that began last month.
I am not going to go through a strategy; we want them to go here next and there after that. I mean, they are an independent, sovereign nation that makes decisions on its own about whats in its interests in terms of self-defence, Morrell maintained.
But we are clearly encouraged by the fact that, ever since there was this encroachment on Islamabad by the Taliban and associated other militant groups, that we are seeing an aggressive and sustained military operation in response, he added.