Pakistan Wants to Reduce American Troops to ‘Minimum Essential’

Tensions Continue to Rise Between US, Pakistan

With US-Pakistan tensions continuing to rise in the wake of the Sunday raid which killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the Pakistani military has ordered the Obama Administration to slash the number of troops inside Pakistan.

Though it is unclear exactly what this will mean in terms of numbers, the Pakistani military said it wants the US to reduce the number of troops to the “minimum essential” in the country. The US has had troops engaged in training operations for years.

The two nations were already increasingly at odds over the extent of US spying across the nation, as well as the number of attacks across the tribal areas. The fact that the bin Laden raid came without US officials contacting Pakistan until it was over only made matters worse.

And now, US Congressmen are openly calling for the suspension of US aid to Pakistan, which makes the deployment of the US troops inside the country all the more controversial. Though many see a full split as unlikely, it seems tensions will remain high going forward.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.