US Says It's Struck AQ in Pakistan; Pakistan Warns On Cross-Border Operations

Karachi Kabuki? I hope so; hopefully we have the green light on this and Pakistan is issuing the required "oh no you di'n't violate my territorial sovereignty" statements.

US admits/boasts of anti-AQ missions in Pakistan:

The Bush administration is acknowledging publicly that the American military has staged attacks inside Pakistan on Al Qaeda, a signal that increases pressure on the leader in Islamabad, President Musharraf.

Yesterday on " Fox News Sunday," the president's homeland security adviser, Frances Townsend, was asked about military actions in the Pakistani border provinces where Al Qaeda's chief, Osama bin Laden, and one of his two leadership councils reportedly meet regularly.

"Just because we don't speak about things publicly doesn't mean we're not doing things you talk about," she said, using phrasing similar to that President Bush favors when asked whether he will use military force against Iran's nuclear program.

American special forces operations inside the Pakistani border provinces are an open secret among close watchers of the region, but Ms. Townsend's words yesterday mark an escalation in public rhetoric against Mr. Musharraf. Mr. Musharraf has for the most part withdrawn his military from those provinces, which are dominated by tribes although subject to Pakistani federal control.

The remarks pick up a theme that has been sounded this year by other top aides to Mr. Bush. On February 27, in his first public remarks to Congress after his confirmation hearing, the director of national intelligence, Admiral Michael McConnell, spoke of focusing efforts with "great intensity" on Al Qaeda safe havens in Pakistan.

Pakistan protests plan to "eradicate" AQ havens:

ISLAMABAD hit back angrily yesterday at warnings from Washington that the US military could launch an incursion into Pakistan to eradicate a resurgent al-Qa'ida network.

US special operations teams and unmanned aircraft may already be operating inside Pakistani territory.

Top White House counter-terrorism official Fran Townsend cited intelligence revealing that al-Qa'ida had rebuilt within Pakistan's remote tribal territory and warned that if the US had "actionable targets anywhere in the world ... then we would pursue those targets".

At the same time, US director of national intelligence Mike McConnell said Osama bin Laden was living in the border area of Pakistan and that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's peace deal with Islamic militants in the area had seriously backfired.

"My personal view is that (bin Laden) is alive, but we don't know because we can't confirm it for over a year," Mr McConnell said. "I believe he is in the tribal region of Pakistan."

Responding to the comments, Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri said: "We are committed to controlling terrorism, and people in Pakistan get very upset when, despite all the sacrifices that Pakistan has been making, you get these criticisms.

"What I don't like is the tone that I am now hearing and that I am now reading in the American media," he said, going on to reject claims about an al-Qa'ida "safe haven" inside Pakistan.

Mr Kasuri said talk of US military strikes inside Pakistan was "irresponsible".

"When you talk of going after targets, you will lose the battle of hearts and minds," he said. "The Pakistan Army can do the job much better.

"Let the United States provide us with actionable intelligence, and you will find that Pakistan will never be lacking," he said.

Uh-huh.

I wouldn't get too excited by this, though. There are telltale signs the Great Overmountain Invasion of Pakistan, long urged by the left, is far from ready to roll.

The most glaring evidence is that Glenn Greenwald, Max Blumenthal, and various other lefties who do nothing but denigrate right-leaning bloggers and pundits as "chickenhawks" for not fighting in Iraq have not yet, apparently, deployed to the frontier regions of Pakistan.

Obviously, these true-blue patriots on the left who constantly question why rightwingers aren't serving in Iraq must, one imagines, already be signed up as part of top-secret SEAL HVT (high value target) hit-squads, ready to deploy in a war they claim they support (the Great Overmountain Invasion of Pakistan). They've been claiming we must withdraw from Iraq to fight the "real war" in Pakistan for five years; certainly they must have already gone through their top-secret Delta Force terrorist-killer training by now.

Otherwise, I don't know, they'd be like... dishonest hypocrital hack chickenhawks or something.

We'll know the US military is about to get serious about striking deep in the heart of Pakistan's Northwest territories when Greenwald, Blumenthal, et al. announce they're forced to take a break from blogging for unspecified (classified!) reasons.

I can't wait 'till Greenwald is "in country," as those in the military say, and begins sending us back Michael Yon like dispatches from the true front in the global war on terror. Except they'll be even better, because Yon is just a gutsy embed, whereas Glenn Greenwald is, I think it's fair to say, "the finest killing machine the American military has ever produced."

Wearing children's skulls on one's head? Eating a dead mook's brains?

Dude. You ain't seen nothin' yet. Wait 'till Hurricane Greenwald storms into Waziristan. Trust me, Tough, Strong SuperSoldier Greenwald ain't gonna wait 'till a terrorist is dead before eating his brains. "Why wait 'till they're cold?" Greenwald is rumored to have said during HALO training.

I almost feel sorry for these terrorists.

Almost.

posted by Ace at 06:28 PM

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