Unnamed senior United States military officials have acknowledged that American forces conducted a raid inside Pakistan on Wednesday, but military and civilian officials have made no direct comments publicly so far.
An American official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of cross-border operations, told The Associated Press the target of any raid like that reported on Wednesday would have to be extremely important to risk an almost assured "big backlash" from Pakistan. "You have to consider that something like this will be a more-or-less once-off opportunity for which we will have to pay a price in terms of Pakistani co-operation," the official said.
Sorry Butch (or whatever your name is), but that's just plain wrong. Consider that we did this raid and bagged the Talibunnies. What exactly has been the 'big backlash' so far? What, the Paks no longer like us? What, the ISI is going to turn against us now? What, the Pak political elites will plot and scheme against us now? Just exactly how is Pak behavior going to be different?
I'm not suggesting that we can camp within the Pak borders with impunity, but we could stage a dozen more raids like the one we just did and it won't worsen Pak opinions towards us, because those opinions are already bad. They don't like us, they don't really want us around, but they need certain things we have, so they have to tolerate us. And another cross-border raid doesn't change that. |
Circumstances surrounding Wednesday's raid were not clear, but US rules of engagement allow American troops to pursue militants across the border into Pakistan when they are attacked. But Pakistan Army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas said hot pursuit was not an issue, adding that the attack "was completely unprovoked".
| Careful, Athar, our boys are very sensitive. You know how it is when they get provoked. Maybe a Talibunnie made a face at them or showed their feet in disrespect ... |
Pentagon officials told AFP on condition of anonymity the raid by special operations forces targeted suspected Al Qaeda operatives and signalled a possible intensification of American efforts to disrupt militant havens in Pakistan. They said the presence of US troops in Pakistan marked a return to tactics the American military has not used since soon after the Afghanistan invasion.
The International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan denied on Thursday any involvement in the ground assault, however. "Recent reporting in the media that ISAF conducted operations in Pakistan are completely false. ISAF forces do not operate in Pakistan," it said in a press statement issued in Kabul.
The United Nations-sanctioned ISAF admitted however that near the border they "may return fire but only under approved rules of engagement of self defence. Such incidents are co-ordinated and reported to Pakistan authorities. At no time are ISAF forces authorised to enter or land in Pakistan".
The White House refused on Thursday to comment directly on Pakistani anger at the cross-border raid. Spokeswoman Dana Perino said US authorities were "working to increase co-ordination and co-operation and supporting the Pakistanis, as we work to fight against the Taliban in a co-ordinated way".
About Wednesday's attack, she said: "In regards to the reports about that incident, we have not commented, and I won't today . . . I'm just not going to comment on the incident in any way."
"I will reiterate that we've been working closely with the new civilian government of Pakistan that is feeling its way and working to establish itself," said Perino. She said the two allies faced "a common enemy" in the Taliban militia and the Al Qaeda terrorist network and noted "a very big scare yesterday" with a failed attack on Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
| "So we're going to try to see the Prime Minister and the Pakistani political structure from themselves, even though they don't deserve it," Perino added. |
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