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| India-Pakistan |
| Bush authorizes US commando raids in Pakistan -NYT |
| 2008-09-11 |
| WASHINGTON, Sept 10 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush secretly approved orders in July that for the first time allow U.S. special forces to carry out ground assaults inside Pakistan without the approval of the Pakistani government, The New York Times reported on Thursday. The new orders reflect concern about safe havens for Al Qaeda and the Taliban inside Pakistan, as well as an American view that Pakistan lacks the will and ability to combat militants, the paper said. "The situation in the tribal areas is not tolerable," said a senior U.S. official who spoke to the Times on condition of anonymity. "We have to be more assertive. Orders have been issued." The newspaper said the orders also illustrated lingering distrust of the Pakistani military and intelligence agencies and a belief some U.S. operations had been compromised once Pakistanis were advised of the details. U.S. officials told the Times they would notify Pakistan when they conduct limited ground attacks like the Special Operations raid last week in a Pakistani village near the Afghanistan border, but they would not ask for its permission. Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani said on Wednesday Pakistan would not allow foreign troops to conduct operations on its soil. "The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country will be defended at all cost and no external force is allowed to conduct operations ... inside Pakistan," a military statement quoted Kayani as saying. A senior U.S. official told the Times the Pakistani government had assented privately to the general concept of limited ground assaults by U.S. forces against significant militant targets, but that it did not approve each mission. The top U.S. military officer told Congress on Wednesday the military was not winning the fight against the insurgency in Afghanistan and said it would revise its strategy to combat militant safe havens in Pakistan. "I'm not convinced we are winning it in Afghanistan. I am convinced we can," Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a congressional committee nearly seven years after U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban. He said he was "looking at a new, more comprehensive strategy for the region" that would cover both sides of the border, including Pakistan's tribal areas. Violence in Afghanistan has soared over the past two years as al Qaeda and Taliban fighters have regrouped in the remote region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The United States has stepped up attacks against militant targets inside Pakistan this year with a series of missile strikes from unmanned drones and a raid by helicopter-borne U.S. commandos in recent days. The attacks have been denounced by Pakistani leaders. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #24 Send 'em a Telegram, that count's for 14,372. |
| Posted by: .5MT 2008-09-11 23:54 |
| #23 CNN BLITZER > THE SEARCH FOR OSAMA BIN LADEN > reminded that Osama's fromer driver argued OBL was alive as of 2005 [few years after TORA BORA] and was actively recruiting for AQ in Afghanistan when Dubya invaded Iraq in 2003. CNN BLITZER > ITS NOT JUST THE TALIBAN BUT ALSO AL QAEDA THAT IS REFORMING AND STRENGTHENING/RE-ARMING INSIDE PAKISTAN. It remains my belief that even iff US SPECOPS, etc. did finally capture or kill OBL, espec by 11/08 Elex or Jan 2009, or even 2010 [post-Dubya], IT MAY NO LONGER BE ENUFF TO STOP THE ISLAMIST THREAT, IRAN, andor PAN-ISLAMIST NUCLEARIZATION. THE US GOVT-DOD MAY HAVE TO DUST OFF ANY PRE-SHELVED PLANS FOR A NEW NATIONAL DRAFT WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT, WANT A DRAFT OR NOT. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-09-11 22:35 |
| #22 E-mails pretty much don't rate, Red Dawg - they pretty much count as one for one Old-fashioned snail mail is the way to go if you want it to count as multiples. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-09-11 22:31 |
| #21 President George W. Bush secretly approved ... Thanks a heap NYT! But don't question the their patriotism. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2008-09-11 20:07 |
| #20 Good. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2008-09-11 20:04 |
| #19 Good. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2008-09-11 20:04 |
| #18 PLZ write the advertisers for the NYSLIMES and the other Traitorous Rags. FACT #1. for every one letter received from a consumer of a product, it is counted as representing 1000 other couch potatoes or bizzy bees who are either too lazy or too bizzy to write, but do consume the advertisers product/s. Ima not sure whether Old fashion Letters are better than e-mails. It doesn't take many Citizens to change economic pressure on Manufactures. |
| Posted by: Red Dawg 2008-09-11 16:07 |
| #17 Also from the Times, next raid will occur tomorrow at 2200 hours on Mount Splodeydope. |
| Posted by: DK70 the Scantily Clad7177 2008-09-11 15:00 |
| #16 more raids please .... |
| Posted by: Legolas 2008-09-11 14:43 |
| #15 There's been a low-level war going on between President Bush and the bureaucracies in Washington since he took office. Washington needs a thorough house-cleaning, but it would take ARCLIGHT strikes, napalm, and maybe a nuke or two to get some of those entrenched a$$holes out of their offices. Two divisions of Marines wouldn't be enough. Everyone who belongs to AFSCME needs to be fired - ALL employees of the Federal Government serve "at the convenience of the President", and they need to learn that. Unfortunately, the Donks have passed enough laws that it's virtually impossible to clean house without military intervention. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2008-09-11 14:32 |
| #14 Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani said on Wednesday Pakistan would not allow foreign troops to conduct operations on its soil. He doesn't consider Binny and Knothead to be foreigners? |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2008-09-11 14:07 |
| #13 Screw Pakistan, when is W going to issue a secret order to infiltrate the NY Times and get me the clues to the Sunday crossword puzzle ahead of time. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2008-09-11 13:46 |
| #12 secretly approved orders in July that for the first time allow For the first time in July? There have been complaints about ghosts killing jihadis for several years in that part of the world. I find it very hard to believe the president only recently authorized it... unless it was the CIA doing it before, and it's the DoD now. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-09-11 13:36 |
| #11 Cross border commando operations are obvious. What isn't obvious, and was probably not seen by the NYT, was the additional secret authorization to SOCOM. Which orders might have been best summarized by the Thuggee Guru in the move Gunga Din: "Rise and kill. Kill, lest you be killed yourselves. Kill for the love of killing. Kill for the love of Kali. Kill! Kill! Kill!" While not exactly an operations order, I'm sure that it would be appreciated by SOCOM types, in the current context. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-09-11 13:33 |
| #10 Five will get you ten that it was Mullin speaking "not for attribution." He is a bozo, does not inspire confidence, and should be dumped right now. |
| Posted by: Balthazar 2008-09-11 13:07 |
| #9 A senior U.S. official told the Times One wonders who the open mouth belongs to and why he spoke. Sometimes it's ego, and unauthorized, but sometimes it's purposeful use of the media to send a message. If the former, he might should be hanged for treason. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2008-09-11 12:42 |
| #8 6 years too late. |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2008-09-11 11:42 |
| #7 Don't the Pakis keep their cute little nuclear arsenal tucked away in the NWFP somewhere? |
| Posted by: mojo 2008-09-11 11:11 |
| #6 Send in a whole damned division of marines and "sterilize" that pestilence. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-09-11 11:08 |
| #5 It was the low cost bid on GPS systems. Nah, we are just taking care of a long festering problem. Pakistan is one of the bee hives from whence terrorism comes. Hope Bush told the Pakis, since you didn't take of the problem, we are. I cannot imagine Barack Obama as President during the WOT despite whatever he says. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2008-09-11 11:03 |
| #4 Looks to me like he had some sort of deal with Perv. Since Perv is out of the way, it's open season on jihadis in Pakiwakiland - and about time, too. |
| Posted by: Spot 2008-09-11 10:51 |
| #3 If the Mexican Army can operate across our Southern border with impunity, what's a couple SF troops to the Pakistanis, more or less? Have em' take a cue from our DoS to learn how to tolerate foreign incursions without blowing an aneurysm. |
| Posted by: Jiggs Elmoluger3473 2008-09-11 10:44 |
| #2 Well, who else would have authorized it? Waldo? Not exactly a huge surprise here. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2008-09-11 10:10 |
| #1 thank god the NYT revealed the secret orders.... and don't question their patriotism *spit* |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-09-11 09:54 |