American forces took helicopters into Pakistan yesterday and raided a village near the Afghanistan border. It was reportedly "the first publicly acknowledged case of United States forces conducting a ground raid on Pakistani soil." The New York Times reports:
"Until now, allied forces in Afghanistan have occasionally carried out airstrikes and artillery attacks in the border region of Pakistan against militants hiding there, and American forces in 'hot pursuit' of militants have had some latitude to chase them across the border.
"But the commando raid by the American forces signaled what top American officials said could be the opening salvo in a much broader campaign by Special Operations forces against the Taliban and Al Qaeda inside Pakistan, a secret plan that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has been advocating for months within President Bush’s war council....
"While most American soldiers in Afghanistan operate under a NATO chain of command, the Special Operations forces who carried out this attack answer only to American commanders." (NY Times)
Various sources involved have stated varying body counts. AMerican officials said that one child was killed. Pakistani officials said that American soldiers "opened fire on villagers, killing seven people." (NY Times)
The Pakistani government protested the attack and mentioned something about reserving the right to defend itself and retaliate. Pakistan said that the attack was counterproductive, in that it could inspire civilian up rising.
The Times article cites different anonymous officials (American and Pakistani) characterizing the raid and its aftermath in different ways.
Frankly, I don't put much stock in quotes from officials who anonymously leak secrets to the press, because they either 1) are outright betraying their nation -- how trustworthy are they?; or 2) they were told to leak the info, meaning that it was likely a public relations strategy.
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