October 28, 2008	Tuesday	Shawwal 28, 1429

NEW YORK, Oct 27: Following “furious complaints” by Islamabad, Washington has backed away from using American commandos for further ground raids into Pakistan, relying instead on an intensifying campaign of airstrikes by the CIA against militants in the mountains, the New York Times reported on Monday. However, the newspaper quoted American and Pakistani officials as saying that the attacks by remotely piloted Predator aircraft had increased sharply in frequency and scope over the past three months.

Through Sunday, there were at least 18 Predator strikes since the beginning of August, some deep inside tribal areas, compared with five strikes during the first seven months of this year.

At the same time, however, officials told the newspaper that relying on airstrikes alone, the United States would be unable to weaken Al Qaeda’s grip in the tribal areas permanently. Within the government, advocates of the ground raids have argued that only by sending Special Operations forces into Pakistan can the United States successfully capture suspected operatives and interrogate them for information about top Qaeda leaders.

The decision to focus on an intensified Predator campaign using Hellfire missiles appears to reflect dwindling options on the part of the White House for striking a blow against Al Qaeda in the Bush administration’s waning days.

After months of debate within the administration and mounting frustration over Pakistan’s reluctance to carry out more aggressive operations, President Bush finally gave his approval in July for ground missions inside Pakistan.

But the only American ground mission known to have taken place was a Special Operations raid on Sept 3, in which the roughly two dozen people killed included some civilians. American officials say there has not been another commando operation since.

American officials acknowledge that following the Sept 3 raid they were surprised by the intensity of the Pakistani response, which included an unannounced visit to Washington, three weeks after the incursion, by National Security Adviser Mahmud Ali Durrani. He registered his anger in person with top White House officials.

But the newspaper quoted a senior administration official as saying that no tacit agreement had been reached to allow increased Predator strikes in exchange for a backing off from additional American ground raids, an option the officials said remained on the table.