WASHINGTON -- American commanders in Afghanistan have in recent months urged a widening of the war that could include American attacks on indigenous Pakistani militants in the tribal areas inside Pakistan, according to U.S. officials.
The requests have been rebuffed for now, the officials said, after deliberations in Washington among senior Bush administration officials who fear that attacking Pakistani radicals may anger Pakistan's new government, which is negotiating with the militants, and destabilize an already fragile security situation there.
American commanders would prefer that Pakistani forces attack the militants, but Pakistani military operations in the tribal areas have slowed in recent weeks to avoid upsetting the negotiations.
Pakistan's government has given the Central Intelligence Agency limited authority to kill Arab and other foreign operatives in the tribal areas, using armed, remotely piloted Predator aircraft.
But the government has put far greater restrictions on American operations against indigenous Pakistani militant groups, including a group commanded by Sirajuddin Haqqani, son of the militant leader Jalaluddin Haqqani.
American intelligence officials say that the threat emanating from Pakistan's tribal areas is growing. They say Pakistani networks there have taken on an increasingly important role as an ally of al-Qaida in plotting attacks against American and other allied troops in Afghanistan and in helping foreign operatives plan attacks on targets in the West.
The officials said the American military's proposals included options for limited American cross-border artillery strikes into Pakistan, missile attacks by Predator aircraft or raids by small teams of CIA paramilitary forces or Special Operations forces.
In recent months, the American military officials in Afghanistan who are urging attacks in Pakistan discussed a list of potential targets with the U.S. ambassador in Pakistan, Anne W. Patterson, officials said.
The requests by the American commanders for attacks on targets in Pakistan were described by officials who had been briefed on the discussions, but who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the discussions involved possible future operations.
The discussions are the latest example of a recurring problem for the White House: that the place where the terrorist threat is most acute is the place where American forces are most restricted from acting.
