Official Reports ‘Gaps’ in Pakistani Intelligence
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration isn’t satisfied with the quality of information it’s getting about terrorist groups and militants operating in Pakistan’s volatile tribal area, a senior American official said yesterday.
Despite the shortcomings, America won’t conduct military strikes on its own inside Pakistan unless President Pervez Musharraf’s government requests such direct support, the State Department’s counterterrorism chief, Dell Dailey, said.
“There’s gaps in intelligence,” Mr. Dailey said during a meeting with reporters.
Mr. Dailey, a retired Army lieutenant general with extensive background in special operations, said the lack of information makes him “uncomfortable.” Yet the solution to the problem rests mainly with the Pakistanis, who would likely see too much American involvement as an intrusion.
More than 40% of Pakistanis support or are sympathetic to Al Qaeda and radical Islam, Dailey said.
