Former Official: Bush OKed Pakistan Raid

[attilavolciak07]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080911/...toHcEryP0Gw_IE

This was a horrible idea to raid a village and kill civilians, especially in another country.

A senior U.S. military official last week also confirmed that a special forces attack had taken place about a mile across Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. That official spoke on condition of anonymity because the internal debate over the U.S. response to rising violence along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border includes discussion of classified intelligence.

The former official told The Associated Press that Bush signed an order over the summer giving new authority to U.S. special operations forces to target suspected terrorists in the dangerous area along the Afghanistan border. More recently, the administration secretly gave conventional ground troops new authority to pursue militants across the Afghan border into Pakistan, the former official said.

The "rules of engagement" have been loosened, allowing troops to conduct border attacks without being fired on first if they witness attacks coming from the region, the former official said. That would include artillery, rockets and mortar fire from the Pakistan side of the border.
The new authority allowed last week's unprecedented U.S.-led ground assault into the volatile region known as the tribal areas. The U.S. forces were apparently seeking specific Taliban or al-Qaida leaders. The senior U.S. military official said the assault targeted "individuals who were clearly associated with attacks on U.S. forces in Afghanistan."
The Sept. 4 raid left at least 15 people dead, and embarrassed Pakistan's new civilian-led government. Pakistani officials have also said U.S. forces were involved.

The Pakistani government is not told about the targets in advance because of concerns that the Pakistani intelligence service and military are infiltrated by al-Qaida and Taliban supporters who would leak the information, the former official said. The arrangement is deliberately ambiguous. While the Pakistan government is left in the dark, it also does not want the United States government announcing that operations were undertaken without Islamabad's approval.

[Mikelus Trento]

About time.

[Big War Bird]

About time.

Agreed.

LoL isn't that illegal and would be considered an act of war by most countries?

So watchya gonna do about it?

[imb39]

So watchya gonna do about it?

Precisely what Russia said to Georgia, and the world. Just as repulsive as this attitude.

[Big War Bird]

Precisely what Russia said to Georgia, and the world. Just as repulsive as this attitude.

Tis a serious question.

[tilly1632]

Agreed.



So watchya gonna do about it?

Blame the russians ! It's obvious that they are behind this.

[BoJaN]

LoL isn't that illegal and would be considered an act of war by most countries?

[attilavolciak07]

LoL isn't that illegal and would be considered an act of war by most countries?

Most likely, Pakistan wouldn't dare try it though. Bring it up to the UN.

[attilavolciak07]

So watchya gonna do about it?

Declare World War 3 of course.

[BoJaN]

I think some of you need to re-vote http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=189892

[Mithie]

So uh... does the Bush administration have proof that those killed were enemy combatants and not civilians?

Otherwise, this isn't going to go well with the Pakistani public.

[Mikelus Trento]

So uh... does the Bush administration have proof that those killed were enemy combatants and not civilians?

Otherwise, this isn't going to go well with the Pakistani public.

I don't think the happiness factor of the Pakistani people exceeds the desire to rub out the Taliban and get Bin Ladin.

[Mithie]

I don't think the happiness factor of the Pakistani people exceeds the desire to rub out the Taliban and get Bin Ladin.

I don't think the desire to rub out the Taliban and get Bin Ladin exceeds the imperative to avoid killing 100 times that number in innocent civilians, and as a result create a better recruitment campaign for the Taliban than the most zealous interpretation of the Koran.

[Mikelus Trento]

I don't think the desire to rub out the Taliban and get Bin Ladin exceeds the imperative to avoid killing 100 times that number in innocent civilians, and as a result create a better recruitment campaign for the Taliban than the most zealous interpretation of the Koran.

Well, sorry you feel that way. As an American, I do not. The Pakistanis had 7 years to secure their border. Long enough.

I hope we hear of more of these raids.

[Rapax]

Well, sorry you feel that way. As an American, I do not. The Paks had 7 years to secure their border. Long enough.

That's like saying "we had 7 years to secure Afghanistan. Long enough."

[Mithie]

Well, sorry you feel that way. As an American, I do not. The Paks had 7 years to secure their border. Long enough.

I hope we hear of more of these raids.

As an American, I feel we're better than terrorists, and actually have an interest in the safety of those civilians who were just as innocent as those who perished in the twin towers.

We are the self-declared leader of the Free World. We are better than terrorists, and we should use better tactics than those of our enemies.

[attilavolciak07]

So uh... does the Bush administration have proof that those killed were enemy combatants and not civilians?

Photoshop is used plenty nowadays.

[Gobmech]

Thinking to myself: Terrorism <- Word is derived from "terror", which is a nuance of "scared". Terrorism = making people scared, in the modern use, often by the show of force against apparently civil/innocent targets.

So technically, this could pass as terrorism? I mean, if I where in Pakistan and close to the Afghanistan border, I'd be pretty scared tonight when I got to bed.

[Mikelus Trento]

Thinking to myself: Terrorism <- Word is derived from "terror", which is a nuance of "scared". Terrorism = making people scared, in the modern use, often by the show of force against apparently civil/innocent targets.

So technically, this could pass as terrorism? I mean, if I where in Pakistan and close to the Afghanistan border, I'd be pretty scared tonight when I got to bed.

Being not of the Middle East or Muslim, if I were in Pakistan and close to the Afghani border, I doubt I would be going to sleep at all tonight. But rather running fast as hell to the west.

[Gobmech]

Being not of the Middle East or Muslim, if I were in Pakistan and close to the Afghani border, I doubt I would be going to sleep at all tonight. But rather running fast as hell to the west.

The criteria for that scenario:

Part of border must be next to Afghanistan.
West of said border should NOT be.. Afghanistan.

Seeing as not very much of the Pakistan border fulfills these criteria, you'd probably have a long trip ahead of you.