U.S. Considers New Covert Push Within Pakistan

By Steven Lee Myers, David E. Sanger and Eric Schmitt.
01/06/08 "New York Times" - -- -WASHINGTON — President Bush’s senior national security advisers are debating whether to expand the authority of the Central Intelligence Agency and the military to conduct far more aggressive covert operations in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

The debate is a response to intelligence reports that Al Qaeda and the Taliban are intensifying efforts there to destabilize the Pakistani government, several senior administration officials said.

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