WASHINGTON, Nov 25: The White House fears that the current political upheaval in Pakistan could undermine US efforts to defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda forces along the Afghan border, says an intelligence report published in the US media on Sunday.

The report, prepared by the US National Security Council, however, acknowledges that it is still too early to say if Pakistan’s political turmoil can go out of control.

The report notes that both the Taliban and Al Qaeda maintain headquarters, logistical support and training camps in the tribal territory along the Afghan border which increases US concerns about the possible repercussions of the current political impasse in Pakistan.

According to the Washington Post, the White House concedes that the war effort in Afghanistan has not met strategic goals set this year. The main conclusion of the report, prepared earlier this month, is that while individual military battles against the Taliban have been successful, other areas remain wanting.

The Post also quotes US Defence Secretary Robert Gates as saying that the US Special Operations Command has been lobbying for a more active role along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Several experts believe that the United States can no longer afford to leave the Pakistani military to clean up its side of the border, the Post reported. “Unless we resolve the safe-haven issue, this is not going to succeed,” says Henry A. Crumpton, a CIA veteran who led the agency’s successful 2001 Afghanistan campaign against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. “It’s getting worse.”

But others say the problem is not Pakistan or a lack of military or financial resources in Afghanistan. It is the absence, they say, of a strategic plan that melds the US military effort with a comprehensive blueprint for development and governance throughout the country.

The White House report also notes that many foreigners, mostly Pakistani, join the Taliban, but the main source of new recruits remain unhappy Afghans.

“There doesn’t seem to be a lot of progress being made ... I would think that from (the Taliban) standpoint, things are looking decent,” the paper quoted the intelligence official as saying.