US shift seen to Pakistan, Afghanistan terror war

In a shift with profound implications, the Bush administration is attempting to re-energise its terrorism-fighting war efforts in Afghanistan, the original target of a post-Sept. 11 offensive.
The US also is refocusing on Pakistan, where a regenerating al-Qaeda is posing fresh threats.
There is growing recognition that the United States risks further setbacks, if not deepening conflict or even defeat, in Afghanistan, and that success in that country hinges on stopping Pakistan from descending into disorder.
Privately, some senior US military commanders say Pakistan's tribal areas are at the centre of the fight against Islamic extremism; more so than Iraq, or even Afghanistan. These areas border on eastern Afghanistan and provide haven for al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters to regroup, rearm and reorganise.
This view may explain, at least in part, the administration's increasingly public expressions of concern.
At a Pentagon news conference last week, Defence Secretary Robert Gates said that while the US respects the Pakistani government's right to decide what actions are needed to defeat extremists on its soil, there are reasons to worry that al-Qaeda poses more than an internal threat to Pakistan.
"I think we are all concerned about the re-establishment of al-Qaeda safe havens in the border area," Gates said. "I think it would be unrealistic to assume that all of the planning that they're doing is focused strictly on Pakistan. So I think that that is a continuing threat to Europe as well as to us."