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Vol. 72/No. 38      September 29, 2008

 
Ground raid on Pakistan
ordered by White House
(front page)
 
BY BRIAN WILLIAMS  
The September 3 ground assault in Pakistan by U.S. Special Forces was authorized under “secretly approved orders” President George Bush put into effect in July, reported the September 11 New York Times. These attacks, which are increasingly part of the Pentagon’s military operations across the Afghanistan border, will be conducted without prior approval of the Pakistani government, the Times story said.

The assault was a larger operation than had previously been reported. Two anonymous U.S. officials told the Times that it involved more than two dozen members of the Navy Seals, who spent several hours on the ground. They opened fire on inhabitants in the village of Musa Nikow in the South Waziristan district of Pakistan. An AC-130 gunship participated in the operation and then whisked the troops away. Twenty people were killed, including at least 16 civilians. An unnamed Pakistani official said that the Pakistani Army was told about the commando raid only after it happened, the Times reported.

The assault was followed by three days of airstrikes by remotely piloted U.S. drones in the surrounding area. For years the CIA has been firing missiles from Predator aircraft over the skies of Afghanistan and Pakistan. A new U.S. command structure put in place this year assigns the CIA, operating out of the Bagram air base in Afghanistan, to coordinate military actions in the Afghan-Pakistani border region.

The ground attack led to new rifts within Pakistan’s government, which has cooperated with Washington in its “war on terror” since late 2001. Leading Pakistani officials condemned the attack, but also made clear they prefer U.S. air strikes in these areas to Special Operations forces on the ground.

“Such intrusions are not covered by any agreement,” stated Pakistani army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani. U.S. forces “are not allowed to conduct operations on our side of the border. The country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity will be defended at all costs,” he insisted.

NATO took its distance from the U.S. troop raid into Pakistan. “It is not NATO that will be sending its forces across the border,” James Appathurai told the media September 11. “Our mandate ends at the border.” An Army brigade and Marine battalion totaling 4,500 U.S. troops are on their way there.
 
 
Related articles:
U.S. troops in Iraq cut; more go to Afghanistan  
 
 
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