The New York Times is reporting that the Bush Administration is considering unleashing the CIA to conduct ‘more aggressive’ covert operations inside of Pakistan. The reasoning for the possible new push is an Al Qaeda’s resurgence in Pakistan and their desire to create mass havoc in that country. Some of the possibilities the Bush Administration is considering in granting the CIA more latitude in selecting targets inside of Pakistan’s borders and the issues of protecting Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. Some in the US State Department are concerned that US Military Operation inside of Pakistan’s border could create tension amongst the general population and Musharraf, which could mean instability within the country.

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Here is an excerpt from Reuters

Senior U.S. officials, concerned over intelligence reports that al Qaeda and the Taliban are more intent on destabilizing Pakistan, are considering expanding the authority of the CIA and the military to conduct far more aggressive covert operations there, the New York Times said on Sunday.

Citing senior Bush administration officials who spoke off the record, the Times said that while no decisions had been made, the options under discussion included the CIA working with the military's Special Operations forces.

Several participants in a meeting on Friday argued that the threat to President Pervez Musharraf's government was now so acute that Musharraf and the country's military leadership were likely to grant Washington more latitude, the Times said.

Among those reported at the meeting were Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and top national security advisers to President George W. Bush.

Spokesmen for the White House, the CIA, and the Pentagon declined to discuss the meeting, but one official said the discussion reflected concerns that a new al Qaeda haven was solidifying in parts of Pakistan and needed to be countered, the Times said.

While no new options had been formally presented by Washington to Musharraf, the newspaper said that officials from the White House to the Pentagon saw an opening in Pakistan's changing political structure for Washington's expanding authority in the nuclear-armed country.

"After years of focusing on Afghanistan, we think the extremists now see a chance for the big prize -- creating chaos in Pakistan itself," the Times quoted a senior official as saying.

Bush administration aides said that Pakistani and U.S. officials shared concerns about a resurgent al Qaeda, and that U.S. diplomats and senior military officers had been working closely with Pakistani officials to strengthen Pakistan's counterterrorism operations, the newspaper said.

Some State Department officials contend, however, that U.S.-led military operations in Pakistan near the Afghan border could foment a powerful backlash and thus do more harm than good, the Times said.

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