A dilemma. Pakistan is nominally an ally in the war on terror. It's also a sovereign nation. We have a problem. We want to take out terrorists, and an ally says we can't do that in their country without permission.
So, what do we do? It's really easy to say to heck with Pakistan...let's roll. It's also a mistake. We need to be able to move in Pakistan and we need their assistance.
It's my opinion that we need to consult with Pakistan before conducting this type of raid there.
Agree in principle, but what if we know where UBL is and they say we can't mount a raid or an attack? At some point we need to let these countries know that giving sanctuary to our enemies cancels the usual niceties. Had we told them about this raid I suspect the odds of the targets being there would have been zero.
I think this is all semantics, I think Pakistan gave us the info on the terrorist gathering, I think they knew we were going to bomb the site and I think Mushareff is only playing to the media to cover his a$$ with the radicals in his country.
This can be found at Bill Roggio's site......Threatswatch.org........"An unnamed villager in Damadola states Pakistani intelligence was on the scene in Damadola almost immediately, “Soon after the air strike, several Pakistani security agents based in Khar, Bajaur Agency’s regional headquarters, disguised themselves as visitors and visited the site to collect evidence about the presence of No 2 Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zahawri.”
Those Pak security agents weren't there without the full knowledge of their bosses! Those at the upper levels of the Pak govt. knew exactly what was going on, they just have a delicate issue with some of their citizens, so comments about Airstrikes within their country have to be made for PR reasons.....I'm not sure I trust these guys in the long run, but they knew all about this strike, and before it ever happened.
Bad idea. Notifying the Pakistan gov't is the same as notifying the targets of the upcoming attack. It's war, people die in a war. If Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, India had not allowed the towelheads to run rampant for so long we wouldn't be there now. They'll just have to put up with us a bit longer.
What countries say in private and what they say for public consumption are often two different things.
"It's my opinion that we need to consult with Pakistan before conducting this type of raid there."
Yea, that sounds like a good idea....notify Al Qaeda that we are coming knocking...brilliant, simply brilliant...