Pakistan Ups the Ante in Standoff With U.S. Over Troop Incursions

Wall Street Journal ^ | 9/16/08 | ZAHID HUSSAIN

[Jack85321]

"No incursion will be tolerated anymore," said Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, chief military spokesman. The prospect of the ALLIES fighting each other as they hunt down Islamist militants still appears remote, given the Pakistani government's desire to receive billions of dollars in aid from the U.S. But the repeated warnings against U.S. troop raids reflect the strong anger felt among Pakistan's senior ranks that the U.S. is overstepping its bounds with a close ally.

[SevenMinusOne]

Much of the talk coming out of Pakistan is for their domestic public consumption - The reality is we can cross their border at will in most of the areas we are looking to strike without them ever knowing - They aren't there -

In areas where they are, we can avoid and those few locations where we can't.....if they fire on us, those locations need not exist for long...

Reading between the lines........good news likely isn't too far off.....and everyone knows it.......it is now a game of how to spin it....

[Mashood]

No more F-16s for you, Athar.

[Nervous Tick]

Note to W and Condi: throwing Musharraf under the bus was a really, Really, REALLY bad idea.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

But the repeated warnings against U.S. troop raids reflect the strong anger felt among Pakistan's senior ranks that the U.S. is overstepping its bounds with a close ally.

This is a confrontation that's been delayed for far too long as the US sought to protect Musharraf and avoided intrusions into Pakistani territory. The Pakistani military enjoys a lot of popular support and is trusted by the people of Pakistan far more than any civilian leadership ever has been. But the Pakistani generals can't go on pretending to object to the new US incursions while doing nothing about them, even for the enormous amount of aid we bribe them with - not unless they're willing to risk that popular support. The question now is, what exactly will they do about it?

[VRWCmember]

Sounds like we need to increase the ratio of airstrikes to ground attacks, including the use of massive bunker-busting bombs. Some of those mountainous areas on the border need to be converted to valleys.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

This “unannounced” incursion program should have started 6 1/2 years ago.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

This “unannounced” incursion program should have started 6 1/2 years ago.

[river rat]

Your measured observations and comments make more sense than most of the posters in the forum — especially me when I'm on a “Nuke’em till they glow and shoot’em in the dark” rampage.

Most of my rage is due to the fact I'm getting too damned old to wait for a delayed conclusion to this campaign against the Islamists -— forgetting this war has been going on for centuries and may go on for more.

As much as I'd like to see Pakistan shut up and put up or get lit up — I'm slowly coming to the same conclusion that their bitching is primarily for domestic consumption of their lunatics.

I also agree that a major focused campaign is currently in the early stages of bringing some “Western Wrath” upon the heads of the militant Islamists and Jihadists in the “territories”.....

Hope we're not wrong....
Would love to see some major tali-whacking transpire on Pakistani soil......with huge and devastating loss of life — THEIRS.

It's time to shut down their “Hole in the Wall”....sanctuary.

[WellyP]

If they shoot at our men and women, they deserve to die! If anyone gets in the way, they are helping the enemy and also deserve to die! Your choice, Mr. “Paki” General!