September 29, 2010

NATO Choppers Kill Pakistani Soldiers

Now two NATO helicopters have attacked the Teri Mangal village in Kurram Agency, killing three Pakistani paramilitary forces.

“The helicopters shelled the area for about 25 minutes," a senior security official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "Three of our soldiers manning a border post were killed and three wounded."

Fulfilling its threat, Pakistan has blocked all NATO supply trucks at Torkham, the main port of entry into Afghanistan. Seems like things have really hit the fan now. Should see extensive damage control tomorrow, similar to Monday's border raid, although what good it does after a repetition of events remains to be seen.

America might be committing a strategic error by using its free passes early in the game - or else more attacks are in order. Pakistan's reaction, even factoring in theatrics for its public, suggests that no agreement exists, but America is acting as if one does. Or is Washington finally capitalizing on Islamabad's helplessness?

Hamid Karzai has demanded cross-border raids for some time, perhaps a quid pro quo in the making.

4 comments:

  1. http://www.arcic.army.mil/Docs/armyopconcept.pdf


    http://realityzone-realityzone.blogspot.com/2010/09/forever-war-for-war-addicts-2016-and.html

    You guys have got to read this.
    The top link is at the bottom of the post I just put up.
    If you read the post, and link to Toms Dispatch he shows the link at the bottom of the article.

    This is where the war mind set is.
    It is the concept of war that intrigues them.
    NOTHING ELSE.
    It is what it is, and I am sick and tired of it.

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  2. I am sticking with my first thought from long ago.
    The West will do all it can to turn Pakistan into a total failed state.
    I am still sticking with my Balkanization theory of the region.
    I see Parvez Mussharraf is making some moves again.
    A new military ruler is in the cards for Pakistan.

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  3. That end game will end in disaster for many parties. The only real of dividing the region is through referendums, which is possible in Balochistan and a "Pastunistan." But then the West and India would lose influence.

    I don't think America wishes to turn Pakistan into a failed state because a failed state is of no use, except to perpetuate al-Qaeda if that's the theory. At some point these "smart" people may have simple lost control of what they thought was controllable chaos. Raiding Pakistan has been a predictable last resort from the beginning, and we may be seeing that now. But the situation is too fluid to make any definitive observations.

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  4. As for Engelhardt's report, we've been operating under these assumptions since Obama assumed office. The problem is that many of these figures and time lines match up to counterinsurgency standards, which is probably how the Pentagon sold its plan. But beginning this COIN nine years into the insurgency goes against COIN's fundamentals: fight an insurgency before it begins, not after. Both strategies - leaving and staying - are fatally flawed.

    I don't agree, but I do anticipate that Washington as a whole will steer towards 2016 or 2020 than 2011 or 2014.

    ReplyDelete