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ARTICLE: U.S. aiding Pakistani military offensive, By Julian E. Barnes and Greg Miller, Los Angeles Times, October 23, 2009
The gist:
The U.S. military is providing intelligence and surveillance video from unmanned aircraft to the Pakistani army to assist in its week-old offensive in South Waziristan, marking the deepest American involvement yet in a Pakistani military campaign, officials said.
The assistance includes imagery from armed Predator drones that Defense officials say are being used exclusively for intelligence gathering in the offensive.
Providing such information fills gaps in the Islamabad government's spying arsenal, officials said, and helps show how the Obama administration intends to intensify pressure on insurgents in Pakistan as the administration overhauls the U.S. military strategy in neighboring Afghanistan.
The cooperation also reflects a significant shift for Pakistan, which had previously resisted U.S. offers to deploy Predators in support of its military operations.
The beginnings of the right kind of cooperation--as in, we supply as needed vice give them money and hope they buy the right stuff.
(Via WPR Media Roundup)
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