US
Military Bombards Targets
Inside Pakistan
By Peter Symonds
29 August, 2007
WSWS.org
In
an aggressive new step, the US military shelled and destroyed targets
across the Afghan border inside Pakistan on Sunday. While it has received
scant coverage in the American and international media, the attack foreshadows
more extensive US cross-border operations that have the potential to
further destabilise Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s uncertain
grip on power.
The US-led coalition in Afghanistan
issued a statement declaring that Pakistan had given permission for
an attack on Taliban positions inside its borders. Occupation forces
in the eastern province of Paktika used artillery and mortar fire to
destroy six positions—three inside Afghanistan, and three across
the border in Pakistan. According to the statement, at least 12 insurgents
were killed in the barrage.
Pakistani officials emphatically
denied giving approval for the assault. Military spokesman Major General
Waheed Arshad declared, “There was no attack [from Pakistan],
no firing from our side of the border. And there was no permission asked
by them or given by us.” Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson
Tasnim Aslam dismissed further US claims that Washington had an understanding
with Islamabad to allow cross-border attacks as “speculative and
fabricated”.
Late Monday, the US military
belatedly conceded that no permission had been given. “We regret
the miscommunications in this event,” Brigadier General Joseph
Votel, deputy commander of NATO’s eastern region, declared. However,
he made no apology for the attack itself and gave no guarantee that
US forces would not engage in further cross-border attacks.
The incident follows a series
of statements by Bush administration officials indicating that the US
military would take unilateral action inside Pakistan against Taliban
and Al Qaeda targets. Late last month, Bush’s Homeland Security
Adviser Frances Townsend was asked on Fox News why the US was not sending
predator drones and special forces into Pakistan. “Well, just
because we don’t speak about things publicly doesn’t mean
we’re not doing many of the things you’re talking about,”
she replied.
During a press conference
earlier this month, President Bush dodged a question about seeking Pakistani
approval before sending in US troops. While noting the Pakistani president’s
past cooperation and shared concerns about “terrorism”,
Bush stressed: “I’m confident, with real actionable intelligence,
we will get the job done.” US and Afghan officials had been demanding
for months that Musharraf take tougher action against anti-US insurgents
based in Pakistan’s tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.
There is no doubt that the
US military has already taken action inside Pakistan. An Associated
Press report published last week revealed that, as early as 2004, the
rules of engagement for elite US special forces had authorised “hot
pursuit” of anti-occupation fighters into Pakistan without seeking
prior approval from Islamabad. The documents laid out circumstances
in which US troops could penetrate up to 10 kilometres into Pakistani
territory. Pakistani villagers have protested on a number of occasions
against US incursions and attacks, including aerial bombings.
To date, the Bush administration
has played down cross-border operations to minimise the political fall-out
for Musharraf, who confronts widespread domestic opposition over his
support for the US occupation of Afghanistan and the bogus “war
on terror”. For its part, the Pakistani regime has trod a fine
line: publicly insisting that the US military observe its borders, while
collaborating closely behind the scenes. The Associated Press article
reported that the US military had established a liaison office in Islamabad
that was responsible for notifying local authorities of US incursions
into Pakistan.
US demands for tougher Pakistani
action against Islamist militants have made Musharraf’s position
even more precarious. Last month’s bloody end to the siege of
Islamabad’s Red Mosque, or Lal Masjid, in which more than 100
people were killed, provoked widespread revulsion, denunciations of
Musharraf as an American stooge and calls for his ousting. Attacks on
Pakistani security forces by Islamic extremists have sharply escalated,
with clashes taking place on a daily basis in tribal border areas. Major
General Arshad told the media last Friday that around 250 militants
and 60 troops had died over the previous month, including in suicide
attacks on soldiers and police.
Musharraf is also facing
concerted pressure from the major opposition parties. Exiled former
prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted by Musharraf in a military
coup in 1999, declared he would contest national elections after the
country’s Supreme Court ruled last week that there was no barrier
to his return. Another exiled former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto,
has engaged in talks with Musharraf to reach an arrangement that would
enable her to return and take part in elections.
Musharraf is confronting
growing demands to step aside as the country’s military commander
if he seeks re-election as president. In the first sign of overt opposition
in his own administration, one of Musharraf’s cabinet ministers
resigned on Monday and called for him to step down as head of the army.
The dilemma for the increasingly beleaguered military strongman is that
the army will only remain as a secure base of support if he stays at
its head. The fighting in border areas has already opened up rifts in
the army, which has had close ties to Islamist groups, includes significant
numbers of Pashtuns, and previously backed the Taliban in Pashtun areas
of Afghanistan.
US cross-border attacks into
Pakistan will only compound Musharraf’s political problems. While
the clash on Sunday has been minimised, Washington has not ruled out
further attacks. Faced with a deteriorating military situation in Afghanistan
and the contorted logic of his “war on terror”, President
Bush is under pressure to act against so-called Al Qaeda sanctuaries.
Earlier his month, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama publicly
called for US troops to move against Al Qaeda forces inside Pakistan—with
or without Islamabad’s approval.
Inside Afghanistan, US and
coalition troops are confronting a rising tide of attacks by insurgents
as well as widespread popular opposition to the five years of occupation,
which has brought nothing but death and destruction to large parts of
the country. Another five foreign troops died in fighting on Monday,
taking the death toll for the year to more than 150. The 2007 figure
is set to pass last year’s toll of more than 190—the highest
since the 2001 invasion.
Last Sunday’s attack
on alleged Taliban positions inside Pakistan may indicate the start
of more aggressive US interventions, regardless of the impact on the
country’s stability. One of the first casualties of such American
action could well be Musharraf, who has been an important ally in legitimising
and prosecuting the Bush administration’s “war on terror”.
Leave
A Comment
&
Share Your Insights
Comment
Policy
Digg
it! And spread the word!
Here is a unique chance to help this article to be read by thousands
of people more. You just Digg it, and it will appear in the home page
of Digg.com and thousands more will read it. Digg is nothing but an
vote, the article with most votes will go to the top of the page. So,
as you read just give a digg and help thousands more to read this article.