September 3, 2008
For the first time (to my knowledge) U.S. troops made a significant ground attack on Pakistan territory. This will create a backlash either for the Pakistani government or for the occupation forces in Afghanistan:
The governor of North West Frontier Province, the chief administrator for the tribal belt, said three coalition helicopter gunships and commandos carried out an "outrageous" attack on a village.
"At least 20 innocent civilians of Pakistan including women and children were martyred," Gov. Owais Ahmed Ghani said in a statement.
...
Habib Khan Wazir, an area resident, said the incident occurred in a village called Musa Nikow. Wazir said he heard the sound of helicopters and then an exchange of fire between the assailants and other residents.
...
He said the dead included women and children and that all were civilians. He claimed that the attackers were American and Afghan troops, and didn't know if any of them had been wounded.
The U.S. spokesperson in Afghanistan is playing dumb and denies any involvement of regular U.S. troops. NATO/ISAF also denied to know anything about the incident. That points again to U.S. special force and Afghan commandos units that 'work' independent of the regular line of command.
The news over this will be drowned out by an unsuccessful attempt to shot the Pakistani prime minister. (Was this for show? Who would take two shots with a regular gun at an obviously armored limousine and expect to hit someone?)
Geonews confirms the U.S. attack:
WANA: Pakistani government confirmed that 20 people were killed in coalition forces' attack at Angorada area of South Waiziristan on Wednesday morning.
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Earlier, Geo News correspondent Mushtaq Yousufzai tod four helicopters of coalition forces landed in Angaorada in the wee hours of Wednesday and started search operation.
Coalition troops killed nine people of a family of local tribesman Taj Muhammad. They further searched two more houses and killed four persons in one house and one person in another house. Five women and four children also included among the dead.
If this U.S. operation was done without a green light from the top Pakistani military and political leadership, it will create a diplomatic backlash from the Pakistan government and create further Taliban support by the Pakistani military.
It could well be that green light for such operations was given in a 'secret' meeting between the top U.S. and Pakistani military a few days ago.
If that is the case, the Pakistani military will not overtly act against the U.S. But if the Pakistani government is seen helpless over or allows such attacks, it will create an internal backlash by tribal forces against the Pakistani military and by political forces on the street against the Zardari administration.
A mixture of both scenarios is possible.
Are such attacks really worth their price? Does the U.S. really want a destabilized Pakistan as some believe?
