U.S. may step up raids in Pakistan

[DogPoundPup]

Source: Los Angelas Times

Even as angry protests spread in Pakistan, Pentagon officials said Thursday that the number of cross-border commando missions may grow in coming months to counter increasing violence in Afghanistan.

The developments threatened to aggravate U.S.-Pakistani tensions just before the country's presidential election Saturday, in which attitudes toward the United States are likely to be a key issue. The U.S. raid Wednesday and its aftermath also fanned a long-standing debate within the Bush administration over how to deal with militants in Pakistan.

Pakistani officials said U.S. troops flew into South Waziristan by helicopter in the raid and that as many as 20 people were killed, many thought to be civilians. The White House, State Department and Pentagon all moved to clamp down on administration discussion of the assault, but government officials confirmed the broad details provided by the Pakistani government.

U.S. military officials insisted that there was no new policy authorizing an increase in raids into Pakistan. Assaults by U.S. special operations forces into Pakistan have taken place before, and U.S.-operated unmanned aircraft have attacked sites believed to be used by militants.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-uspakistan5-2008sep05%2C0%2C6935562.story

[whistle]

1. Aren't these U.S. attacks into Pakistan acts of war?

[daleo]

2. I would say so

The Bush administration would probably use the "hot pursuit" defense, if asked. But, judging from these reports, I don't think it applies.

Viet Nam ====> Cambodia
Afghanistan =====> Pakistan

[lib2DaBone]

5. It is an act of war...

We have the largest Naval Fleet ever assembled, as we speak, sitting in the Persian Gulf. Two Israeli Soldiers along with a couple US Advisers were found dead in Georgia. I hope Smirk Boy isn't planning on attacking Iran. With Isreal involved ,it will ignite the middle east like nothing before. Russia has signed a mutual aid pact with Iran.. and will defend Iran. I hope this isn't the October Surprise they keep talking about.

[JDPriestly]

3. Have you read the Book on Who Killed Daniel Pearl

I think it was written by someone named Levy. Here is Wikipedia on it.

On September 1, 2003, a book titled Who Killed Daniel Pearl?, written by Bernard-Henri Lévy was published.<22> The book, which the author characterized as an "investigative novel", stirred controversy for some of its speculative conclusions about the killing, and for some of its characterizations of Pakistan, and for the author's decision to engage in an exercise of fictionalizing Pearl's thoughts at the end of his life. Lévy was criticized for the book.<23><24><25><26> This book is being adapted into a film directed by Tod Williams and starring Josh Lucas focusing on the last few days of Daniel Pearl's life.<27>

HBO Films produced a 79-minute documentary titled The Journalist and the Jihadi: The Murder of Daniel Pearl. It premiered on HBO on October 10, 2006. The documentary chronicles Pearl's life and death, and features extensive interviews with his immediate family. It is narrated by Christiane Amanpour, and was nominated for two Emmy Awards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Pearl

If you read the book, you might understand why we might be interested in what is going on in Pakistan.

[EFerrari]

4. But that isn't the question. Of course al Qaida is sitting in the

tribal areas and of course Omar is sitting in Karachi.

The question was -- are these raids acts of war?

[ohio2007]

7. Same acts of Turkey going into Iraq or Russia going into Georgia or Iran going into Afghanistan

Libya going into Chad Pakistan going into India ect are not being considered acts of war so the answer isn't going to be yes or no
or found at the UN after a long winded discussion.

[High Plains]

8. Except Georgia isn't halfway around the world from Russia.

And Turkey isn't halfway around the world from Iraq, and Iran isn't halfway around the world from Afghanistan. They're all immediate neighbors who could at least make a plausible case for self-defense of their homelands.

Not so in our case. We have invaded and occupied a country on the other side of the world for seven years now and, frustrated by the Pashtun uprising against the occupation, we now want to take our war of choice to yet another country. Step deeper into the shit, boys. Someday the US will get it comeuppance.

[ohio2007]

10. define self defense on the Pakistani level

Married at 9, slain by parents at 17

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3475015

maybe in a few months Barack will explain to you why we went into Afghanistan and Pakistan.

[ohio2007]

6. Students track Daniel Pearl's killers

Students track Daniel Pearl's killers
Posted on Saturday, September 06, 2008 2:26 PM ET
Filed Under: Terrorism
By Jim Popkin, NBC News Senior Investigative Producer

Islamic extremists kidnapped American journalist Daniel Pearl in Pakistan in 2002, and beheaded him several weeks later. Four men were convicted for the gruesome murder, but U.S. investigators believe many more men were responsible.

Now, some Georgetown University journalism students are working to identify all the conspirators and help bring them to justice. In a collaboration with the Center for Public Integrity in Washington, D.C., the students say they already have identified nearly a dozen men who allegedly helped guard Pearl prior to his murder.

The classroom project is led by Asra Nomani, a former Wall Street Journal reporter who was with Pearl in Karachi, Pakistan, just hours before the kidnapping. "Danny always had my back," she said. "And now, with this program, I feel we have his back."


http://deepbackground.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/09/06/1358062.aspx

Project Pearl: The Bravest Class in Town

Members of the Pearl Project, which includes graduate students as well as undergrads, at Georgetown University's School of Continuing Studies in Washington, D.C. From left: Caitlin McDevitt, Jill Phaneuf, Mary Cirincione, Professor Asra Nomani, Shilpika Das, Katie Balestra, Erin Delmore (seated on floor), Kira Zalan, Jessica Rettig, Sakshi Jain.
Douglas Adesko

http://www.marieclaire.com/world/news/terrorism-daniel-pearl-fbi

well, good luck with unraveling that web spun by the ISI. I never bought into that fast arrest of four suspects just to satisfy the media deadlines.
Hope those girls can digg up something soon .


College students assigned to solve Daniel Pearl case

http://www.digitaljournal.com/blog/846

[JohnyCanuck]

9. Pakistan cuts supply lines to Nato forces

Pakistan cuts supply lines to Nato forces
By Nasrullah Afridi

BARA: In a major development, the federal government on Friday announced disconnection of supply lines to the allied forces stationed in Afghanistan through Pakistan in an apparent reaction to a ground attack on a border village in South Waziristan agency by the Nato forces.

Political authorities of the Khyber Agency claimed to have received verbal directives to immediately halt transportation of all kinds of goods meant for the US-led Nato forces in Afghanistan for an indefinite period.

Authorities claimed the decision was taken in the wake of the growing unrest in the Khyber Agency that provides for the only ground link of the country to the war-torn Afghanistan. "Until now, drivers of the vehicles carrying goods meant for the foreign forces in Afghanistan were directed to reach the tribal agency between 7am to 10am, which were then escorted to the border town of Torkhum by the Khassadar force," the authorities told The News.

The authorities claimed that due to repeated attacks on the personnel of the Khassadar forces during the last one week and abduction of a few personnel, it had become difficult for the security forces to provide foolproof security to the supply lines.

Independent sources, however, claimed that the government feared retaliation by the tribesmen against a recent ground attack conducted by the Nato forces in Angoor Adda of the South Waziristan Agency that triggered condemnation from various quarters, including the government of Pakistan itself.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=17051