Interesting developments. I believe this was originally an Afghan idea to form a force from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the USA to together operate on the border (presumably both sides) and hunt Taliban. This could mean that not only US but also Afghan soldiers will be fighting inside Pakistan alongside Pakistani soldiers.
The fact that the PPP is considering this, rather than reject it out of hand as Musharraf always did the notion of having foreign troops sighting in Pakistan, suggest that the current government does believe that Pakistan’s army alone is incapable of winning, and needs help.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) – A senior U.S. official confirmed here Tuesday that Washington is discussing with its Pakistani and Afghan allies the creations of a joint military forces to combat insurgents on the Pakistani-Afghan border.
"We're obviously taking a good look at it. We're going to analyze it and see where we go from here on it," State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood said, adding that "We will probably have something to say once we've done a thorough analysis of it."
Last month officials from the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan began discussing the creation of a joint military force to attack insurgent sanctuaries on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border, the Washington Post quoted Afghan Defense Minister Rahim Wardak as reporting Tuesday.
"The terrorists have not recognized any boundaries. So to fight them, we have to eventually come up with some arrangement, together with our neighbor Pakistan," Wardak said.
"Pakistan's government is considering the plan. They say they are looking at it," Wardak said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Michael Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, have for months stated that the U.S. military is willing to conduct joint operations with Pakistani forces against insurgent havens in tribal areas in Pakistan.