WASHINGTON – Acknowledging that terrorist had a safe haven inside the Tribal Areas from where they operated and crossed over to Afghanistan, a top Pentagon official said on Wednesday that it would be a tough job to seal the Afghan-Pakistan border.
“As far as the border itself, I think it’s naive to say that we can stop, you know, forces coming through the border,” said Col Viet Luong Commander, Task Force Rakkasan and 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. “In order to secure the border, as well – as you know, it takes a lot. It takes effort on the other side, by the Pakistanis,” said Luong, who is responsible for eastern Afghanistan which includes the volatile Khost province and 261 kms of the Af-Pak border.
In a special video conferencing with Pentagon reporters from Kabul, he said, “As our footprint is expanded along the security line of effort, it’s harder and harder for these guys to come and bed down in these villages.”
“To secure the border in the traditional sense, if you’re talking about, you know, like what we would do along our own border with Mexico down in the southwestern US, that’s not what we’re doing. It takes an inordinate amount of resources and force to be able to do that,” he said in response to a question.
