April 21, 2008	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 14, 1429

NEW YORK: A US lawmaker said on Sunday that Congress would push the Bush administration to justify its policy in Afghanistan following a non-partisan report that concludes that the administration “lacks a comprehensive plan” to take on Al Qaeda in its stronghold. Congress will also seek answers on administration’s inability to capture Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Congressman Howard Berman, the California Democrat who heads the House Foreign Relations Committee, told ABC News: I want the American people to know what is not happening, and I believe that pressure from that public scrutiny will force this administration and certainly the next administration to make a 180-degree change.

“It was a foolishness from the start to believe that Pakistan could go into that tribal area and do our dirty work for us,” Michael Scheuer, former top CIA expert on Al Qaeda and author of “Marching Toward Hell,” told ABC News. “Anyone could have told this government on Sept. 12, 2001, if you’re going to get Bin Laden, if he gets into Pakistan, you’re going to have to do it yourself, because the Pakistanis can’t do it without destabilising their country to the point of civil war.” Berman has scheduled a hearing for May 7 to grill administration officials.

ABC news said that the Congressman’s concern follows a report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, that concludes, “No comprehensive plan for meeting US. national security goals ... has been developed” in Pakistan’s tribal region along the Afghan border.

The ABC news said that the Bush administration acknowledged it had a problem. “We have more work to do there and we need to do it,” White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.