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Shaheryar Azhar (The Forum)
I was first mad when I heard this news but now the more one reflects the sadder one becomes. Very sad and deeply wondering what will this do to Pakistan and its nascent democracy, not to speak of the safety and welfare of its 160 million people with an ally like America? What will it do to America’s own war on terrorism? Who has trained these soldiers who kill innocent women and children with such regularity? Who planned this mission? Is there any accountability? Any hope that this kind of blunder will not be repeated when all one sees are examples of repetition, again and again and again?? A missile fired long-distance that kills innocent women and children and other non-combatant civilians is bad enough but a helicopter-borne assault by actual soldiers that does it – need one say more? Is America its own worst enemy? With collateral damage of this type against innocent men, women and children and done repeatedly how many thousands of people does each such incident infect with the disease of extremism? How much more difficult and costly does it make this war against extremists? With not even bragging rights to have captured any significant target, with nothing to show for it except the dead bodies of innocent women and children, America not only deeply entrenches hatred for its actions by the general population but even within its sympathizers in Pakistan. Further, it destroys everything good that this elected government has done since taking power, including the latest sustained military operation in Bajaur and Swat, and alienates the front-line officers of Pakistan army who have been bearing the brunt of fighting for Pakistan and on behalf of America. Is there no civil society, no pressure group, no sane voice amongst Americans who can lobby to put stop to this madness???? Some one who can knock some sense into American commanders and politicians?
U.S. raids hurt cause by angering Pakistanis – envoy
05 Sep 2008 21:02:36 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Paul Eckert, Asia Correspondent WASHINGTON, Sept 5 (Reuters) – A deadly cross-border raid into Pakistan by U.S. commandos this week failed to capture anyone important and helped militants by enraging the Pakistani public, Islamabad’s envoy in the United States said on Friday. “Unilateral action by American forces does not help the war against terror because it only enrages public opinion, Ambassador Husain Haqqani said in Washington. “In this particular incident, nothing was gained by the action of the troops,” he said of the Wednesday attack on the South Waziristan village of Angor Adda that Pakistani officials said killed up to 20 people, including women and children. The predawn helicopter-borne ground assault is the first known incursion into Pakistan by U.S.-led troops since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. The Bush administration has not officially acknowledged any U.S. involvement in the raid. But Pentagon officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the attack targeted suspected operatives and aimed to disrupt safe havens for militants who threaten U.S., NATO and Afghan forces across the border. Haqqani declined to discuss details of the attack or his discussions with U.S. officials on the raid, which drew a furious response from the Pakistan government. But he said the U.S. commandos took “no one significant” and he warned that such actions “do the work of the militants by creating more support for them among the people.” “We need more Pakistanis to understand the American perspective and be sympathetic to it, rather than enrage more Pakistanis against the United States,” Haqqani said in remarks at a Washington think tank. While condemning the raid, the envoy said “we will not let this incident come between close ties and strong military, intelligence and political cooperation between our countries.” Pakistan’s two-chamber parliament and four provincial assemblies will elect a new president on Saturday. Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, is expected to win. Seeking to dispel increasing concerns voiced by the United States about Pakistan’s will to fight militants, Haqqani said the elected government in Islamabad would have wider legitimacy than former president Pervez Musharraf, a military strongman who was Washington’s chief ally in the war against terrorism. Musharraf offered the United States “one phone call, one person, one decision” but failed to deliver results because decisions were “taken quickly, without prior planning and they were taken in response to some phone call or some pressure,” the ambassador said. Pakistan’s democratically elected coalition government was more methodical and its troop deployments had political and legal legitimacy in a country where many people are suspicious of U.S. motives, he said. Haqqani pointed to recent Pakistani military campaigns in Swat and tribal regions that had killed 560 people affiliated with al Qaeda or the Taliban as an example of results achieved by the new government. (Editing by Anthony Boadle)
2 Comments
September 6, 2008 at 9:34 am
[...] Source The attack was unprovoked. US troops landed by helicopter in the village of Jalal Khei in South Waziristan at around 3 a.m. and immediately targeted three houses. The engagement lasted for about 30 minutes and left between 15 and 20 people dead, including women and children. [...]
September 6, 2008 at 10:33 am
There is an US election round the corner. If George Bush and his cronies get their hands on Osama you know who wins. They will do whatever in their power which means attack Pakistan too, to retain…power