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Powell For More US Military Aid To Pakistan To Combat Terror
11/17/2010 12:00 AM ET
(RTTNews) - Former U.S. Secretary of State and a retired Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell, wants the Obama administration to provide Pakistan Army Chief of Staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, either adequate mobility or intelligence capability he needed to win the war on terror.
He told CNN's Larry King that Kayani was facing an uphill task in the war against terror stretching along the Pakistan-Afghan border.
"He's got a tough problem. This is the most difficult terrain imaginable. And he has troops, but he doesn't have the kind of mobility or intelligence capability that he needs," said Powell, who recently met Kayani at his home.
On the world's most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden, still remaining elusive, the former Rangers and Paratroop officer said this was because the U.S. army had not caught him, adding: "I don't know where he is. He is somewhere, I'm reasonably sure."
Did he believe that bin Laden was still alive?
"I have no reason to believe he's not living, but, you can't prove it. Every six months or a year, out comes a tape that suggests he's still living. But he has proven himself to be a master at hiding himself," the retired four-star Army General replied.
Powell said people thought it was easy to find somebody who was making every effort not to be caught. Despite the U.S.-- having all its satellites, electronic devices, and all of its spies--fugitives were able to hide from it for long, he said.
"We couldn't catch Manuel Noriega right away in Panama. We couldn't catch (General Mohamed Farrah) Aidid in Somalia right away (either)," said Powell, who served as national security advisor and the top military officer as also Secretary of State under presidents, ranging from Ronald Reagan to the second George W. Bush.
He said the terrain where Laden and other Islamic terrorist leaders were hiding was a difficult region, and he would recommend to the Obama administration that it provide Gen. Kayani and the Pakistani armed forces the "wherewithal to get into these very difficult areas."
"It is difficult terrain. I mean, we--we often think about that region as if you can just go anywhere you want in a few hours. And we--we have to keep this in mind, too, when we talk about Pakistan, because our Pakistani friends are an important part...," said Powell.
Was the Obama administration heeding pleas for more assistance to Pakistani army?
"So far, I think the government understands the problem. And I think they are trying to provide him more resources, more money. But I still think it's inadequate to the task that he's facing," the former secretary of state added.
Powell For More US Military Aid To Pakistan To Combat Terror
