United States not satisfied with quality of information from Pakistan

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The Bush administration is not satisfied with the quality of information it is getting about terrorist groups and militants operating in Pakistan's volatile tribal area, a senior US official said. Despite the shortcomings, the United States won't conduct military strikes on its own inside Pakistan unless President Pervez Musharraf's government requests such direct support, said Dell Dailey, the State Department's counterterrorism chief. "There's gaps in intelligence," Dailey said Tuesday during a meeting with reporters. "We don't have enough information about what's going on there. Not on al-Qaida. Not on foreign fighters. Not on the Taliban." 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 US involvement as an unwelcome intrusion.