Pak needs more US help in anti-terror fight: American expert

Observing that the United States and Pakistan should fight terrorism more cooperatively than ever before, a leading American writer has drawn attention to the need for greater security and economic assistance for Islamabads success.
Pakistans army needs more help with equipment; its civilian government needs funds and prodding to reconstruct tribal areas cleared of militants, so the population wont welcome them back. The United States can help with both, Trudy Robin wrote in her widely read column Worldview in The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper.
In the Peshawar-datelined column, Rubin argues that the need for US-Pakistani military cooperation in the struggle against militants has never been greater.
At the same time, she stresses the need for the two sides to build mutual trust.
The writer notes that a serious effort to clear a nasty group known as TT (Tehreek-e-Taliban) out of South Waziristan is going on now and in retaliation, TT has launched a wave of suicide bomb attacks in Peshawar.
The U.S. wants Pakistan to expand action against Afghan militants that may be hiding on its side of the border, while the Pakistani military wants more U.S. help - and pressure on the Afghan government - to try to seal the border so Pakistani jihadis cannot escape, and Afghan jihadis cannot enter Pakistan, Rubin writes.
In response to suggestions for expansion in military actions, Rubin cites Maj Gen. Athar Abbas, DG ISPR, as saying Pakistan does not have unlimited resources and it needs to consolidate our gains and not overreach.
There are some signs of progress. U.S. officials say that U.S.-Pakistani military cooperation is on the upswing (former TT leader Baitullah Mahsood was taken out by a U.S. Predator drone.)
Abbas pointed out that NATO provided an anvil from the Afghan side of the border when Pakistani troops were fighting militants in the tribal area of Bajaur. That kind of help could be offered again.
The columnist also says Pakistan can be helpful in mediating a political solution in Afghanistan.