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| India-Pakistan |
| Bush approved US raids in tribal areas, claims report |
| 2008-09-12 |
| (AKI) - President Bush secretly approved orders in July to allow US forces to carry out ground assaults inside Pakistan without the approval of the Pakistani government, according to senior American officials. US officials told The New York Times newspaper that they will notify Pakistan when they conduct limited ground attacks like the Special Operations raid last Wednesday in a Pakistani village near the Afghanistan border, but that they will not ask for its permission. It is considered a major policy change after nearly seven years of cooperation with Pakistan to combat the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in the country's volatile tribal areas. "The situation in the tribal areas is not tolerable," said a senior US official who spoke on condition of anonymity . "We have to be more assertive. Orders have been issued." The new orders reflect concern about safe havens for Al- Qaeda and the Taliban inside Pakistan, as well as American concern that Pakistan lacks the will and ability to combat militants. The Times reports there is also a "lingering distrust" of the Pakistani military and intelligence agencies and a belief that some American operations had been compromised when Pakistanis were advised of the details. The Central Intelligence Agency has for several years fired missiles at militants inside Pakistan from remotely piloted Predator aircraft. But the new orders for the military's Special Operations forces relaxed firm restrictions on conducting raids on the soil of an important ally without its permission. Pakistan's top army officer said Wednesday that his forces would not tolerate American incursions like the one that took place last week and the Pakistani government lodged a strong protest with the US Ambassador in Islamabad. Last week's raid also presents a major test for Pakistan's new president, Asif Ali Zardari, who supports more aggressive action by his army but faces increasing opposition internally to autonomous US military action. The Times reported more than 25 Al-Qaeda suspects were killed in the pre-planned ground attack that was conducted on 3 September. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Bush still has over four months in office. That's a lot of dead Taliban and Al-Qaeda at the rate the missiles have been flying in recent days. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2008-09-12 19:39 |
| #1 Duh! |
| Posted by: anymouse 2008-09-12 18:33 |