"ALL CAPS IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IS NO VICE."

Thursday, September 04, 2008

TASK FORCE 88 MAKES A HOUSE CALL ... IN PAKISTAN!

As Pakistan becomes less cooperative, and as the extremists elements within Pakistan try ever harder to gain power through murder, our Pakistan policy is changing. No longer will we be held captive by threat of violence on the Islamic street. Instead, we will meet force with force, subterfuge with instant death.

What is Pakistan going to do about it?

From CNN via Redneck's Revenge:
U.S. military forces landed at a compound in Pakistan to battle targets linked to recent attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan, a senior U.S. official confirmed Wednesday. The official declined to be identified, citing the extreme sensitivity of U.S. forces operating within Pakistan's borders.

The action was an uncommon one for the U.S. military. Generally, NATO forces do not enter Pakistan except when pursuing insurgents in Afghanistan who slipped over the border or, in an extreme case, to pursue a high-value target. The Pentagon has refused to comment officially on the attack, but several defense officials acknowledged that U.S. military activity had taken place inside Pakistan.

The senior U.S. official said a small number of U.S. helicopters landed troops in the village near Angoor Adda in South Waziristan, where Taliban and al Qaeda fighters have hunkered down over the years.

Local media reports said the troops came out of a chopper and fired on civilians. The U.S. official said there may have been a small number of women and children in the immediate vicinity, but when the mission began "everybody came out firing" from the compound.

He said the U.S. troops specifically attacked three buildings in the compound. They were believed to contain individuals responsible for training and equipping insurgents who have been crossing the border into Afghanistan in increasing numbers in recent months and staging large-scale, high-profile attacks against U.S. and coalition forces. The official could not say if the troops were going after a specific individual. Officials told CNN there was no indication the target was Osama bin Laden or his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday lodged a protest against U.S.-led coalition and NATO forces for what it said was a "helicopter-borne ground attack" from Afghanistan into Pakistan, an uncommon tactic in the coalition's fight against militants along the violent border. The coalition and NATO have been seeking a way to effectively battle militants launching attacks from Pakistan's swath of tribal areas along the border. They have become frustrated with Pakistan over the years, saying it is not being proactive enough against militants, a claim denied by Pakistan -- now in political flux after the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf.

Top U.S. and Pakistani military officials last week met on an aircraft carrier regarding American concerns that Pakistan hasn't been cracking down hard enough on the Taliban. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman said the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan was summoned to provide an explanation of the incident. "Such actions are counterproductive and certainly do not help our joint efforts to fight terrorism," the ministry said. "On the contrary, they undermine the very basis of cooperation and may fuel the fire of hatred and violence that we are trying to extinguish. Moreover, any attack on Pakistani territory is unacceptable and constitutes a grave provocation."
By the way, this attack on three buildings within Pakistan's borders is unique in the nuclear age. This is the first time that I can recall America openly attacking targets - without any invitation - within a country which possesses nukes.

This attack could easily be considered an act of war by Pakistan. The fact that they are not declaring it to be so is evidence that the Pakistani government is in receipt of a deeper, harsher threat of some sort.

Whether that threat came from America, or from the terrorists within their borders, we can not be sure. But, considering the current government of Pakistan leans more to the side of the Islamists, I'm guessing it was America who sent the message.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

The Pakistani military has been taking a lot of casualties from these insurgents inside their own borders too. You call that being uncooperative.

The country does not have even close to the resources that NATO has and yet they are trying to do all that they can to fight a threat that is within. It has recognized several times that the threat is not only to NATO forces accross the border but to Pakistanis living within the country.

Back when Khalid Mohammed was caught, Tenet went
to Pakistan to give a medal to a soldier who had been shot while raiding Khalid's home (as Khalid would sleep with a gun next to him). The soldier told Tenet that the medal was not necessary, and that they were fighting the war to protect their own country, not just America's interests.

So before you lodge baseless allegations on who is and is not doing enough, maybe you need to get your facts straight. Or at least not get them from a failed restraunt manager (hint hint... Karzai) from Maryland.

Punditarian said...

Asad,

There is some truth to what you say.

When President Musharraf was in charge, the Pakistani armed forces were in the fight -- and on the right side. (I'm not too sure about the ISI.)

But the upsurge in Taliban military activity coincides, does it not, with the fall of the Musharraf government. It seems that the ISI must be back in charge. It was during the government of Benazir Bhutto that the Taliban government was built up and maintained, was it not?

All of the recent attacks and battles in Afghanistan are in close proximity to the Pakistani border. Why is that? I understand that the tribal areas are rather out of control at the best of times, but if the new Pakistani government wants to fight the terrorists, it will have to do more.

By the way, I have eaten in one of the Karzai family's restaurants. The pumpkin with yoghurt and garlic is very good!

Pastorius said...

Asad,
I'm with Punditarian on this. Pakistan certainly has been cooperative. Of late, however, they seem to be becoming less cooperative, as is evidenced by their reaction to this raid.