Pentagon officials are examining alternate ways to move weapons and supplies into Afghanistan should Pakistani officials shut down logistical routes through their nation.
Since the U.S.-led mission began in late 2001, Pakistan has allowed U.S. military ground convoys to use its turf to move weapons, ammunition, food, water and other supplies into Afghanistan.
But with tensions at a boiling point, Senate Armed Services Committee leaders raised concerns Thursday about what would happen if that access were denied. The Hill
HIGHLIGHTS
America's reliability on Pakistan for supplying goods and arms and ammunition for its troops in Afghanistan has reduced to 35 percent, a top Pentagon official told U.S. lawmakers. The Economic Times
Now, lawmakers are pressing the military for details on "Plan B" if Pakistan were to shut off a key supply line for troops in Afghanistan. WSJ
In a hearing Thursday, Sens. Carl Levin (D., Mich.) and John McCain (R., Ariz.) quizzed Gen. William Fraser, the nominee to head U.S. Transportation Command, about what might happen if the logistics corridor that brings military supplies overland to Afghanistan from the port of Karachi, Pakistan, were shut down. WSJ
"We have made progress in the northern supply network," Fraser told the committee. Fraser said he wants to "expand operations there as an alternate mode for getting goods into the theater." The Hill
That may be easier said than done, however. Setting up the Northern Distribution Network -- an essential element to sustaining a "surge" of U.S. forces announced by President Barack Obama in December 2009 -- took months of work by U.S. diplomats to negotiate a series of transportation agreements with Russia and former Soviet republics. And Gen. Fraser said that if transportation routes through Pakistan were indeed shut down, the military would have to rely on cargo aircraft to airlift more goods into Afghanistan. WSJ
That option might work, McCain said, but he said aerial logistics missions are "four or five times more expensive" than moving supplies on the ground. The Hill
FACTS & FIGURES
In 2009, the United States moved 90 percent of its military surface cargo through the Pakistani port of Karachi and then through mountain passes into Afghanistan. Washington Post
Now almost 40 percent of surface cargo arrives in Afghanistan from the north, along a patchwork of Central Asian rail and road routes that the Pentagon calls the Northern Distribution Network. Washington Post
Pakistan has received $20.7 billion worth of U.S. assistance over the past decade, about two-thirds of it in military aid. Reuters
Pakistan has long been considered a vital ally by Washington in the fight against al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, who use safe havens in Pakistan's tribal regions on the Afghan border. BBC
The CIA has long used intelligence from Pakistan's intelligence agencies to help identify targets for drone strikes in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, but now, as officials on both sides say, it operates largely autonomously, especially since it has been concentrating its fire on the Haqqani militant network in the North Waziristan region. The Nation
The United States has given Islamabad a list of terrorist leaders it wants joint operations against, officials said. Pak Tribune
Since the U.S.-led mission began in late 2001, Pakistan has allowed U.S. military ground convoys to use its turf to move weapons, ammunition, food, water and other supplies into Afghanistan.
But with tensions at a boiling point, Senate Armed Services Committee leaders raised concerns Thursday about what would happen if that access were denied. The Hill
HIGHLIGHTS
America's reliability on Pakistan for supplying goods and arms and ammunition for its troops in Afghanistan has reduced to 35 percent, a top Pentagon official told U.S. lawmakers. The Economic Times
Now, lawmakers are pressing the military for details on "Plan B" if Pakistan were to shut off a key supply line for troops in Afghanistan. WSJ
In a hearing Thursday, Sens. Carl Levin (D., Mich.) and John McCain (R., Ariz.) quizzed Gen. William Fraser, the nominee to head U.S. Transportation Command, about what might happen if the logistics corridor that brings military supplies overland to Afghanistan from the port of Karachi, Pakistan, were shut down. WSJ
"We have made progress in the northern supply network," Fraser told the committee. Fraser said he wants to "expand operations there as an alternate mode for getting goods into the theater." The Hill
That may be easier said than done, however. Setting up the Northern Distribution Network -- an essential element to sustaining a "surge" of U.S. forces announced by President Barack Obama in December 2009 -- took months of work by U.S. diplomats to negotiate a series of transportation agreements with Russia and former Soviet republics. And Gen. Fraser said that if transportation routes through Pakistan were indeed shut down, the military would have to rely on cargo aircraft to airlift more goods into Afghanistan. WSJ
That option might work, McCain said, but he said aerial logistics missions are "four or five times more expensive" than moving supplies on the ground. The Hill
FACTS & FIGURES
In 2009, the United States moved 90 percent of its military surface cargo through the Pakistani port of Karachi and then through mountain passes into Afghanistan. Washington Post
Now almost 40 percent of surface cargo arrives in Afghanistan from the north, along a patchwork of Central Asian rail and road routes that the Pentagon calls the Northern Distribution Network. Washington Post
Pakistan has received $20.7 billion worth of U.S. assistance over the past decade, about two-thirds of it in military aid. Reuters
Pakistan has long been considered a vital ally by Washington in the fight against al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, who use safe havens in Pakistan's tribal regions on the Afghan border. BBC
The CIA has long used intelligence from Pakistan's intelligence agencies to help identify targets for drone strikes in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, but now, as officials on both sides say, it operates largely autonomously, especially since it has been concentrating its fire on the Haqqani militant network in the North Waziristan region. The Nation
The United States has given Islamabad a list of terrorist leaders it wants joint operations against, officials said. Pak Tribune

