Alrighty then. Time to push the Afghan border to the east a little bit.
Posted on 09/15/2008 7:25:53 AM PDT by Straight Vermonter
A US military incursion into the Taliban-controlled tribal agency of South Waziristan was aborted after Pakistani troops opened fire on the force, reports from Pakistan indicate.
At least two American helicopters were fired on after crossing the Pakistani frontier near Angoor Adda in South Waziristan, Geo TV reported. "The U.S. choppers came into Pakistan by just 100 to 150 meters at Angor Adda. Even then our troops did not spare them, opened fire on them and they turned away," an anonymous security official told Reuters.
The incident has not been confirmed by the US or Pakistan military.
Angoor Adda is the location of the Sept. 3 assault by US special operations forces which resulted in 20 killed. While the US military did not go on the record about the attack, sources say 20 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters were killed during the raid. The Pakistanis claim that mostly women and children were killed.
The village was also the site of an apparent strike on July 11. The incident was never confirmed, but conflicting reports indicate either US artillery or aircraft was fired at Taliban fighters in the town. Angoor Adda sits astride a Taliban infiltration route into Afghanistan, and is used to stage cross-border strikes into neighboring Paktika province.
The latest US incursion into Pakistan comes as numerous Pakistani military and political leaders have vowed to protect its territorial integrity from all attacks. The Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani and Minister of Defense Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar both said the country would do what is needed to defend itself from outside attacks.
Pakistan closed the vital Torkham border crossing into Afghanistan to NATO traffic on Sept. 6 to send a message to the US, Mukhtar said. The crossing was reopened the next day. The Pakistani Air Force is said to have begun to patrol the tribal areas over the weekend.
President George Bush is has authorized the increased air and ground strikes inside Pakistan in an effort to root out al Qaeda and Taliban forces. There have been 16 cross-border strikes in Pakistan this year alone, compared to just 10 in 2006 and 2007 combined.
The raids have stepped up over the past three weeks, with the US hitting inside Pakistan on an average of every other day. There have been eight recorded strikes inside Pakistan since Aug. 31.
The raids have focused on the tribal agencies of North and South Waziristan. Seven safe houses and training camps have been hit in North Waziristan, seven have been hit in South Waziristan, and two have been targeted in Bajaur this year. Several senior al Qaeda leaders have been killed in the strikes.
North Waziristan hosts the deadly Haqqani Network, which has close links to al Qaeda and the Taliban, and is responsible for some of the deadliest attacks inside Afghanistan. South Waziristan hosts Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban who also has close links to al Qaeda.
Bajaur host Faqir Mohammed, who has sheltered senior al Qaeda leaders including Ayman al Zawahiri. The lawless tribal agency is a command and control center for al Qaeda's operations in northeastern Afghanistan.
Ping
IF this is accurate, it sounds like Musharraf’s departure has let control of the military slide into more adversarial forces.
Why on earth did the US ever publicly support his ouster?
I think they acknowledge a fait accompli.
No kidding. At least Musharraf was somewhat sympathetic to our goals. With him gone, we now have another rogue Islamic state to deal with... except this one has nukes.
Smart thinking indeed.
They should be enforcing their borders...
but if they are going to tolerate Taliban and AQ inside their territory then perhaps is is time to tell the government that they get no more US money, they get no more equipment and their people can forget getting Visas to the US. Oh, and any support for elements that attack our forces or conduct terrorism against us means your military and infrastructure is now fair game.
Because we have learned NOTHING from the 1979 debacle in Iran.
Sounds like it's time to start shooting anything that moves up in that area.
Alrighty then. Time to push the Afghan border to the east a little bit.
.....I think they acknowledge a fait accompli....
The actual events take place in an area so remote that the truth of the matter is nearly impossible to determine.
One thing is certain, W delivered a message and it was received at least by the Pakis.
Too bad this wasn’t done 6 1/2 years ago.
DING! DING! DING!
NO MORE CALLS PLEASE. WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!!
First, there is the real Pakistan dependence on American military aid and technical and logistic support for their fleet of F-16's. They really cannot afford to get us really mad at them without the risk of that aid and support disappearing. OTOH, there is the political environment in Pakistan which certainly has a large pro-Taliban, pro-Al-Qaeda, anti-American element. This would lead one to speculate that the Pakistani's have given Bush an OK privately that they are politically unable to give him publicly. Until we actually see some real damage done to American forces by the Pakistani military that are confirmed by the U.S. I will subscribe to that theory.
But there is the wild card factor of Bush wanting to get Bin Laden before he leaves office. Could we just be seeing a personal vendetta combined with pretty good intelligence on the whereabouts of Bin Laden combining to yield a pull-out-the-stops effort to take down the Al-Qaeda leadership. And this with or without the OK from Pakistan. I would give this theory some credibility as well.
They should be enforcing their borders...
I cannot support our going into Paki. No reason to expand the war. I have supported Bush up to now. I want our troops home as soon as possible.
I wish we could elect someone with enough stones to go in and clean house
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I wish we could elect someone with enough stones to go in and clean house
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I want them home as soon as possible, after victory. There is no sense in bringing them home, so the terrorists win, and we can go back there in two years again...
Finish the business. We didn't stop at the Rhine or Midway either...
Never forget the 3 US SEnators (Biden, Kerry, Hagel) who traveled to Pakistan to berate Musharef and supported bringing Bhutto back to Pakistan...just like Jimmy Carter did to the Shah of Iran.
the idiot US State Dept also supported this...now we have a hostile government in nuclear Pakistan. The Voters need to know the source of our problems on this!
Because Condoleezza Rice is a quota hire who is in way, way, way over her head.
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The new president is just as sympathetic to our security as Musharraf was. Except this time we might get what we pay for. Instead of giving Pakistan 10 billion a year to let AQ set up in the tribal areas, we might just get the green light to go after them
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