America's enemy is in the hills of Pakistan: Senators

"The key to success in the long run to frustrate any kind of massive attack is we've got to go to the enemy where they are and, right now, the enemy as we know is in the hills of Pakistan," Democratic Senator Ted Kaufman told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference here.

Senators Ted Kaufman and Jack Reed's view at a joint news conference reflected the growing call from American lawmakers that Pakistan needs to act fast and more strongly against terrorist forces inside its territory.

"The episode over the last few days represents a lot of hard work and, fortunately, some good fortune for less. In less than 72 hours, the would-be Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad was tracked, arrested and induced to admit his role in the attempt, continuing to share useful information that has led to seven or eight reported arrests in Pakistan," Reed said.

The subsequent steps which led to Shahzad's arrest was due to effective intelligence and law enforcement work, he said, adding it was a crucial part of an integrated strategy to keep Americans safe.

Reed said the US, which was on the verge of destroying al-Qaeda in 2003, decided to go to Iraq and many of the today's critics were the cheerleaders for the Iraq plan.
"When President Obama came into office, he refocused our strategy to take the fight, particularly in the Pakistan tribal areas to al-Qaeda. We have had a series of successful Predator attacks against targets there," he said.

"We are beefing up our forces in Afghanistan so we can stabilise that country and continue to provide support to the efforts that are going on by the government of Pakistan in Pakistan," Reed said.

The Senator said one of the interesting aspects of these attacks is that because of the pressure that's being put on al Qaeda in Pakistan, particularly, their ability to organise large conspiracies with huge effects like the 9/11 attacks has been severely curtailed.

"Now they're trying to do what they can, which is basically individuals in rudimentary plots with rudimentary weapons, still very dangerous to the country," he added.