US would operate against al-Qaida in Pakistan

The United States would consider military force if necessary to stem al-Qaida's growing ability to use its hideout in Pakistan to launch terrorist attacks, a White House aide said. The Senate's top Democrat endorsed that approach. The president's homeland security adviser, Frances Fragos Townsend, said Sunday the US was committed first and foremost to working with Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, in his efforts to control militants in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region. But she indicated the US was ready to take additional measures.