GUNNER
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US Warned Pakistan After Foiled Times Square Attack: Book
WASHINGTON, Sept 27, 2010 (AFP) - The United States implied to Pakistan it would have had no choice but to hit terrorist havens in the country, had a New York car bomb plot succeeded in May, according to a new book published Monday.
Obama's national security advisor James Jones delivered a warning in person to Pakistani President Asif Al Zardari just after the failed Times Square attack on May 1, according to journalist Bob Woodward in his new book.
Jones left Zardari in no doubt that Obama would have been forced to strike back had the bomb gone off, despite the anti-terror alliance between the new nations, Woodward said, in the book "Obama's Wars."
Obama sent Jones, Douglas Lute, his top White House aide on Pakistan and Afghanistan and CIA chief Leon Panetta to Islamabad after the failed attack for frank talks with Zardari and top Pakistani officials.
"The president wants everyone in Pakistan to understand if such an attack connected to a Pakistani group is successful, there are some things even he would not be able to stop," Jones was quoted as telling Zardari.
"Just as there are political realities in Pakistan, there are political realities in the United States.
"No one will be able to stop the response and consequences. This is not a threat, just a statement of political fact," Woodward quoted Jones as saying, adding that the US official warned "we are living on borrowed time."
Woodward wrote that Zardari was told the United States could no longer accept Pakistan's "a la carte" approach to going after some terror groups and not others, and said that Obama could be forced to do things that Pakistan would not like should an attack be successful.
The veteran Washington Post reporter did not say whether Zardari was told of any specific US actions that might have taken place.
And he wrote that Jones did not reveal that one specific US response to a successful strike could have included a "retribution" campaign of bombing of up to 150 "known terrorist safe havens inside Pakistan."
At the time of the meeting, the United States and Pakistan released a joint statement, saying Jones and Panetta "provided an update on the ongoing investigation into the Times Square terrorist incident."
Jones praised Pakistan's "excellent cooperation" and "tremendous sacrifice" in combating extremists, and both sides promised to intensify efforts to increase cooperation, the statement said.
Woodward wrote that Obama wanted four things from Pakistan after the attack: full intelligence sharing, more cooperation on counterterrorism, fast approval of visas for US personnel and the sharing of airline passenger data.
WASHINGTON, Sept 27, 2010 (AFP) - The United States implied to Pakistan it would have had no choice but to hit terrorist havens in the country, had a New York car bomb plot succeeded in May, according to a new book published Monday.
Obama's national security advisor James Jones delivered a warning in person to Pakistani President Asif Al Zardari just after the failed Times Square attack on May 1, according to journalist Bob Woodward in his new book.
Jones left Zardari in no doubt that Obama would have been forced to strike back had the bomb gone off, despite the anti-terror alliance between the new nations, Woodward said, in the book "Obama's Wars."
Obama sent Jones, Douglas Lute, his top White House aide on Pakistan and Afghanistan and CIA chief Leon Panetta to Islamabad after the failed attack for frank talks with Zardari and top Pakistani officials.
"The president wants everyone in Pakistan to understand if such an attack connected to a Pakistani group is successful, there are some things even he would not be able to stop," Jones was quoted as telling Zardari.
"Just as there are political realities in Pakistan, there are political realities in the United States.
"No one will be able to stop the response and consequences. This is not a threat, just a statement of political fact," Woodward quoted Jones as saying, adding that the US official warned "we are living on borrowed time."
Woodward wrote that Zardari was told the United States could no longer accept Pakistan's "a la carte" approach to going after some terror groups and not others, and said that Obama could be forced to do things that Pakistan would not like should an attack be successful.
The veteran Washington Post reporter did not say whether Zardari was told of any specific US actions that might have taken place.
And he wrote that Jones did not reveal that one specific US response to a successful strike could have included a "retribution" campaign of bombing of up to 150 "known terrorist safe havens inside Pakistan."
At the time of the meeting, the United States and Pakistan released a joint statement, saying Jones and Panetta "provided an update on the ongoing investigation into the Times Square terrorist incident."
Jones praised Pakistan's "excellent cooperation" and "tremendous sacrifice" in combating extremists, and both sides promised to intensify efforts to increase cooperation, the statement said.
Woodward wrote that Obama wanted four things from Pakistan after the attack: full intelligence sharing, more cooperation on counterterrorism, fast approval of visas for US personnel and the sharing of airline passenger data.
