Musharraf to US: Bush Doctrine = Invasion

If the US applies the Bush Doctrine to al Qaeda forces in Pakistan, President Musharraf will consider that an act of war against his state.

CNN International, January 12, 2008:

The New York Times reported last Sunday that the Bush administration is considering expanding covert operations in the western part of Pakistan to shore up support for [President] Musharraf's government and to find bin Laden and his second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

"Nobody will come here until we ask them to come and we haven't asked them," Musharraf told the [Singapore] Strait Times this week.

Strait Times reporter Anthony Paul asked Musharraf: "If the Americans came, would you treat that as an invasion?"

"Certainly," Musharaff said. "If they come without our permission, that's against the sovereignty of Pakistan."

Musharraf says if the US sent its own forces into the mountains of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, then it would "regret that day." Last month, he told CNN's Wolf Blitzer last month that "it is Pakistan's forces which will act" if there is "actionable intelligence" that senior al Qaeda leaders are in Pakistan

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