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| India-Pakistan |
| Tough US warning on militant attacks into Afghanistan |
| 2010-10-02 |
| [Dawn] Pakistain received a stern message from the United States on Thursday -- stop cross-border attacks into Afghanistan or face the consequences. The message was delivered forcefully by both US politicians and administration officials. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood ( Wormtongue) Qureshi, who is in Washington, received the message from Senator John I was in Vietnam, you knowKerry on Wednesday and from Senator Carl Levin and Congressman Howard Berman on Thursday. Senator Levin chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, while Mr Berman chairs the House Foreign Relations Committee. The Pak delegation that participated in the talks came back with the feeling that the Americans were becoming "more and more assertive and less apologetic" on this issue. The Americans argued that the Haqqani network and other bully boyz were using their bases in Fata to attack US and Nato forces. They urged the Paks to "make the strategic decisions they have to make to help resolve the Afghan conflict" or the Americans would be forced to use their military might to subdue the snuffys. At the Pentagon, front man Col Dave Lapan strongly defended US troops blamed for accidentally killing three Pak soldiers in a raid along the Afghan border earlier Thursday. The colonel noted that a statement released by Islamabad showed that Pak troops had fired their rifles, "as a warning", at US helicopters taking part in the raid. "You fire at a helicopter in a combat zone, they usually take that as hostile and return fire," the Pentagon official said. The Pentagon is now investigating whether the raid that left three Pak soldiers dead was the result of a breakdown in communication among the two countries. "That will be part of this process," Col Lapan said. "To determine how this happened, why it happened, were protocols followed, were they not followed -- those types of things." The US media quoted Pentagon officials as saying that Pakistain's move to block the Khyber Pass supply line in the wake of the deaths of its troops would have little impact on US military operations in Afghanistan. While the busy border crossing at Torkham is now closed, other key transit points remain open "at last report", according to Col Lapan, who stressed that the US military had alternate means of bringing in fuel, ammunition and food for its soldiers. But long-term impact of the closure on US supply lines -- and whether it is temporary -- is unclear, he added. "That remains to be seen." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Should tell us something I suppose. It's their little game, going on pretty much since we chased out their Taliban in 2002. I s'pose we need to complete the training of more UAV controllers, so that we can spare some from following jihadis home from Afghanistan to overfly the tanker caravans. It wouldn't do at this stage to send UAV missiles through the bedroom windows of those truly organizing the problem: ISI and Pakistani army senior officers. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-10-02 12:22 |
| #1 We sever Taliban logistical lines of communication and the Paks sever our own. Should tell us something I suppose. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-10-02 10:12 |