US warned over raids in Pakistan

By Gareth Porter

WASHINGTON - The National Intelligence Council (NIC), the US intelligence community's focal point for estimating future developments, warned the George W Bush administration last month that a decision to launch commando raids by US troops against al-Qaeda-related targets in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province region would carry a high risk of further destabilizing the Pakistani military and government, according to sources familiar with the intelligence community's response to the issue.

That blunt warning was conveyed to the White House in an oral briefing by a top official of the NIC two or three weeks ago, according to Philip Giraldi, former operations officer and counter-terrorist specialist in the Central Intelligence Agency Directorat of Operations - now known as the National Clandestine Service - who maintains contacts with the intelligence community.