U.S. deploys troop advisers in Pakistan!

March 5, 2008 - The U.S. will send a squad of military advisers to Pakistan to train soldiers fighting militants in the country's restive tribal areas.

After weeks of negotiations between the U.S. and Pakistan's new army chief of staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, President Pervez Musharraf has agreed to accept troops to train soldiers in counter-insurgency operations.

The U.S. trainers will focus on the Frontier Corps, a force of about 8500 soldiers drawn from tribal groups along the Afghanistan border. The majority of the Pakistani army comes from Punjab and is regarded with hostility in the border region, which is dominated by Pashtuns.

The trainers are expected to be in Pakistan for up to two years. They will be initially confined to camps, but with Pakistani consent may accompany soldiers on missions against militants.

Pakistan has thus far resisted direct U.S. involvement with its forces, and deployment will be seen by many as the thin end of the wedge of U.S. involvement.

The New York Times reported that the U.S. may spend more than $US400 million ($430 million) to enhance the Frontier Corps, including building a base near Peshawar.

Some analysts said the U.S. had failed to read the public mood and that the Pakistan Government needed to gain "ownership" of the army strategy.

"We welcome the money and the technology but there is a strong anti-American sentiment in Pakistan. We really need to take back the strategy into our own hands, not leave it to the Americans wholly," said Talat Masood, a former army general.