DTN News - INTELLIGENCE REPORT/NEWS: Pakistan ‘Epicentre’ For Global Terrorism: Mike Mullen....NSI News Source Info # 1417
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Dawn News (Pakistani Media)(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - January 13, 2011: US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, on Wednesday called Pakistan the ”epicentre” for global terrorism and said he was ”confident” that the Pakistani military knows what it has to do to eliminate the threat.
”It is absolutely critical that the safe havens in Pakistan get shut down. We cannot succeed in Afghanistan without that,” he said.
However, in an unusually upbeat assessment on the war, Mullen declared that the enemy in Afghanistan was losing.
The remark comes as the US faces a critical six-month period in Afghanistan.
US President Barack Obama last year ordered a build-up of troops with the promise that they would start leaving the country in July. Many of Obama’s Democratic supporters in Congress say they want to see significant progress by then.
But senior military officials, including Mullen, say they still aren’t sure how many troops can leave this summer and from what areas they would be pulled. They caution that significant drawdowns might not happen until closer to 2014, when Afghan President Hamid Karzai has promised to take over security of the country.
Mullen predicted on Wednesday that there would be ”plenty of forces left” come July and he expects violence to rise as US and Afghan forces continue to confront Taliban strongholds.
http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2011/01/dtn-news-intelligence-reportnews_13.html
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources The Jakarta Post
