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US military plans new supply lines into Afghanistan: Report | Pakistan | News | Newspaper | Daily | English | Online
WASHINGTON - The US military is rapidly expanding its Central Asian supply routes to the war in Afghanistan, fearing that Pakistan could cut off the main means of providing American and NATO forces with fuel, food and equipment, The Washington Post reported.
Experts said U.S. officials prompt news media reports such as this one every time tensions erupt in the US-Pakistan relations.
On Sunday, the post recalled that Pakistan's temporary closure of a major crossing into Afghanistan in September, resulting in a logjam of hundreds of supply trucks and fuel tankers, dozens of which were destroyed in attacks by insurgents.
"While reducing the shipment of cargo through Pakistan would address a strategic weakness that U.S. military officials have long considered an Achilles' heel, shifting supply lines elsewhere would substantially increase the cost of the war and make the United States more dependent on authoritarian countries in Central Asia," the newspaper said.
A senior U.S. defence official said the military wants to keep using Pakistan, which offers the most direct and the cheapest routes to Afghanistan. But the Pentagon also wants the ability to bypass the country if necessary.
With landlocked Afghanistan lacking seaports, and hostile Iran blocking access from the west, it said Pentagon logisticians have limited alternatives.
"It's either Central Asia or Pakistan — those are the two choices. We'd like to have both," the defence official said, "We'd like to have a balance between them, and not be dependent on either one, but always have the possibility of switching."
U.S. military officials said they have emergency backup plans in case the Pakistan routes became unavailable.
"We will be on time, all the time," said Vice Admiral Mark Harnitchek, deputy commander of the U.S. Transportation Command, which oversees the movement of supplies and equipment.
WASHINGTON - The US military is rapidly expanding its Central Asian supply routes to the war in Afghanistan, fearing that Pakistan could cut off the main means of providing American and NATO forces with fuel, food and equipment, The Washington Post reported.
Experts said U.S. officials prompt news media reports such as this one every time tensions erupt in the US-Pakistan relations.
On Sunday, the post recalled that Pakistan's temporary closure of a major crossing into Afghanistan in September, resulting in a logjam of hundreds of supply trucks and fuel tankers, dozens of which were destroyed in attacks by insurgents.
"While reducing the shipment of cargo through Pakistan would address a strategic weakness that U.S. military officials have long considered an Achilles' heel, shifting supply lines elsewhere would substantially increase the cost of the war and make the United States more dependent on authoritarian countries in Central Asia," the newspaper said.
A senior U.S. defence official said the military wants to keep using Pakistan, which offers the most direct and the cheapest routes to Afghanistan. But the Pentagon also wants the ability to bypass the country if necessary.
With landlocked Afghanistan lacking seaports, and hostile Iran blocking access from the west, it said Pentagon logisticians have limited alternatives.
"It's either Central Asia or Pakistan — those are the two choices. We'd like to have both," the defence official said, "We'd like to have a balance between them, and not be dependent on either one, but always have the possibility of switching."
U.S. military officials said they have emergency backup plans in case the Pakistan routes became unavailable.
"We will be on time, all the time," said Vice Admiral Mark Harnitchek, deputy commander of the U.S. Transportation Command, which oversees the movement of supplies and equipment.
