- As border tensions heighten between nuclear powers Pakistan
and India, a U.S. government team is in India to plan the possible evacuation
of 1,100 U.S. troops and up to 63,000 U.S. citizens from both countries.
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- India's foreign minister urged Pakistani President Pervez
Musharraf on Wednesday to honor pledges to halt terrorism in contested
Kashmir and warned of "the urgency of the situation."
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- The Pentagon needs no such warning.
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- About 1,000 U.S. troops are on three military bases in
Pakistan, and an undisclosed number of special operations forces are hunting
al-Qaeda leaders in the country's western provinces. In addition, about
100 commandos are completing a military training exercise, code-named Balance
Iroquois, with Indian forces in Agra, site of the Taj Mahal.
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- Officials from the State Department and the military's
Pacific Command have begun drawing up evacuation plans for 50,000 to 60,000
U.S. civilians, virtually all of them in India, a Pentagon official with
access to the plans said Wednesday.
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- An airlift of that magnitude would dwarf the evacuations
of Americans from Vietnam, which Washington and U.S. forces abandoned in
early 1975, said a military official familiar with U.S. airlift capabilities.
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- State Department officials lack specific numbers of Americans
in Pakistan and India. The most recent tally comes from 1999, when the
department reported that 4,231 citizens registered with the U.S. Embassy
in Pakistan and 15,369 with the embassy in India.
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- Few tourists or business travelers bother to contact
the embassies, and government employees are not included in the count.
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- On Friday, the State Department warned U.S. citizens
to avoid traveling to Pakistan and India and said Americans in the countries
should consider leaving.
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- A senior Pentagon official close to war planners said
the presence of U.S. troops in Pakistan and India might be deterring war.
But Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh warned Tuesday that the presence
of U.S. troops "is not an inhibiting factor" as his government
considers going to war.
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- India and Pakistan have fought three wars since 1947,
including two over the Kashmir province that each claims. Both have nuclear
weapons.
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- The latest flare-up has stalled the hunt for al-Qaeda
members, Pentagon officials say. Asked what Pakistan was doing to find
al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants, the senior Pentagon
official replied, "Not much. We're very concerned."
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- Maj. Gen. Rashid Qureshi, Musharraf's spokesman, said
India "is trying to take an unfair advantage by massing troops knowing
Pakistan is fully involved in fighting terrorists."
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- He said "a lot" of troops were shifted to the
Indian border.
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- Withdrawing U.S. forces from Pakistan would damage the
continuing hunt for al-Qaeda, Pentagon officials say. There are 7,200 U.S.
troops in Afghanistan, but virtually all the al-Qaeda leaders are believed
to be hiding in Pakistan.
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- http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/05/29/nuclear-fears-usat.htm
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