Posted on 07/06/2005 12:47:01 PM PDT by Saberwielder
...
...A-10 aircraft arrived. But the soldiers say the pilots were not permitted to open fire with their machine gun, or drop any ordnance because the militants were in Pakistani territory.
"That just totally frustrates all of us," says Sgt Coca. "It's easy for the enemy to shoot at us here in Afghanistan and then they just run a couple of hundred metres into Pakistan and we can't do anything. They're untouchable.
"We have that problem all the time," he says.
Sgt Miller agrees: "That's their safe haven, because they know that we can't go over the border and they try to use that to their advantage."
...
Madrassas
Capt Islamuddin is more blunt. "Pakistan is interfering in Afghanistan. They are sending the bad guys here. They say there are cooperating, but they are not."
..
Officially, the US military says Pakistan is cooperating closely with its efforts to defeat the insurgency and US generals frequently praise their counterparts across the border.
That is not how it appears to those on the frontline, to the young US and Afghan troops actually doing the fighting.
Whats amazing to me is that the borderline is visible only to Americans.
Musharraf has us by our balls. He chooses when to cooperate amd dictates the price (F-16s, aid, free pass for nuke trade) and still gets to destabilize Afghanistan at will. All because our folks are so scared that if they ask him to do what he promised to do - "he will be destabilized." What a nice gig for Musharraf - support both sides and make hay off both.
Brings back memories of the Korean War and the firing of General MacArthur. Barf.
Over the 4th weekend, I spoke to a friend of my wife who just returned from Afghanistan. He echoes pretty much what is said in this report - Pakistan controls the level and intensity of Taliban violence. Last October, they shut down the border and the Presidential election went off well. But this spring, they opened the tap again. It is the same Vietnam and Laos situation again.
What I do know is that most of the time, the terrorists are able to escape into Pakistan. While coalition forces do have some latitude, permission to attack across the imaginary line is issued after going up the chain of command and after someone contacts the Pakistanis who may or may not acquiesce. By the time the permission is granted, if it is actually granted, the terrorists would normally have dispersed. At the end of the day, that translates into a de facto sanctuary for the terrorists, as confirmed by our own GIs on the ground. Essentially, the Pakistanis hold the control and they throw us a bone every once in a while. Ask any officer who has served in Afghanistan since 2003 and you'll hear the same - off the record of course.
Quite clearly the Paki's are walking both sides of the WOT fence. Musharaff may be cooperating as much as he can without losing his head which is arguably different from SE Asia when border nations were clearly hostile.
The funny thing, we could reasonably ignore this border, considering it's history.
In 1933 the Kingdom of Afghanistan and the British Raj signed the treaty establishing the Durand Line as the border, dividing the Pathan homeland in two as one of it's effects.
The treaty was in effect for 60 years expiring in 1993.
There is no valid reason to respect that "border".
Legally, it doesn't even exist.
But it certainly works for the jihadis.
Do you think our GIs and officers are willing to accept unnecessary loss of life because someone in Washington has decided that Musharraf is doing "as much as he can?" If Musharraf is so dangerously poised, wtf are we doing by giving his army billions in weapons that could imminently fall into the wrong hands?
In the case of Afghanistan, I don't think that's necessary in dealing with what is essentially border banditry. Not letting the bandits take take free potshots across the border at coalition forces should be sufficient. Complaints from the Paki's can always be explained away.
Iraq is a different story and I wouldn't mind seeing cross border raids into Syria or Iran.
In the case of Afghanistan, I believe the situation can be treated like cross border banditry. Not letting the bandits stand up in the open and take take free potshots across the border at coalition forces may be sufficient. Complaints from the Paki's can always be explained away.
Iraq is a different story and I wouldn't mind seeing cross border raids into Syria or Iran.
Pakistan's PM is coming to Washington in a couple of days, so expect to see some cosmetic "encounters" and arrests of "Al Qaeda #4.5s" this week.
How many more SEALs and GIs are we going to lose to the terrorists and their commanders enjoying state protection in Pakistan? Without Pakistani state sponsorship, there is no Taliban - even today. But they seem to be allowed to kill a few Americans in return for an “Al Qaeda #3” pulled out of Musharraf's hat every 3-4 months. Some ally...
12 years after that:
The latest U.S. Department of Defense Report on “Enhancing Security and Stability in Afghanistan” reiterates that Pakistan’s sanctuary, support, and employment of insurgents and terrorists is a strategic impediment to ending that war well, or to ending it at all.
Pakistan has nurtured and relied on a host of Islamist insurgents and terrorists for decades. The Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI) has maintained links between Al Qaeda, its longtime Taliban allies, and a host of other extremists inside Pakistan. It is only possible for Pakistan to become a non-pariah state among the community of states and a helpful partner to the Coalition and the U.S. if it significantly modifies its regional conduct and ceases its support of proxy terrorists and insurgents. America has doled out more than $33 billion in carrots to Pakistan in exchange for Pakistan’s treachery since 9/11.
http://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2017/07/03/pakistan_reson_for_afghanistans_stalemate_111716.html
I don't know what else to say. Maybe later...
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