Marcus Raid in Pakistan
September 5th, 2008 by Marcus
I've read about a raid conducted inside Pakistan and I'm a bit worried. Here are the basic facts.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — American forces conducted a raid inside Pakistan on Wednesday, a senior U.S. military official said, in the first known foreign ground assault against a suspected Taliban haven. Pakistan’s government condemned the action, saying it killed at least 15 people.
The American official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of cross-border operations, said the raid occurred about a mile inside Pakistan. The Washington-based official didn’t provide details on casualties.
I'm going to start of by saying none of us know the full details on this raid. Without those details, it is hard to pass judgment on if the raid was a good idea. I don't like second guessing actions by boots on the ground, but Pakistan isn't exactly happy with this raid.
Pakistan's objections could me a few things. One, and the most likely, is they don't want raids conducted without permission and that seems like a reasonable request. Most of the time. The most of the time portion plays into the second thing.
Pakistan knew who was there, and what they were doing. There have been rumors that Pakistan isn't exactly squashing Taliban training around the Afghan border, hence the reason Americans would need to bring an end to the activities.
This is the top of a slippery slope. I trust commanders on the ground not to slide down that slope, though.
Marcus, like you I'm concerned with what appears to be a violation of another Nation's territory. I'll hope, and pray, that we'll firmly hang onto the "high ground" at the top of that slippery slope and not slide down it into a murky sea of problems.
I posted about this just a while back, the libtards will be jumping each other to say it was "illegal" and all that stuff.
It's not so concerning that the raid took place, but it is very concerning that Pakistan and the media know about it now. SpecOps and diplomacy don't seem to mix very well.
Sorry, it took a while for me to read this. I'd been too busy cheering since we heard about the rocket attacks. Take a look at a map.
All I will say, IS TRUST THE BOOTS ON THE GROUND.
Have you read the stuff about the changes in planning for this winter? No more waiting for them to come out of their igloos.
It's my understanding that the incursion was in the ungoverned tribal region of Pakistan. "Ungoverned tribal region" concerns me a TON! I was recently in a week long seminar. One of the seminar members was a Brigadier General of the Pakistani Army. A very nice and easy going man. We had a lot of discussions about the border region – specifically the "ungoverned tribal region" of Pakistan. The Pakistani government has agreed with the tribes in that region not to "govern" them but to allow the tribes to "govern" themselves. So…is that region honestly a part of Pakistan? Or is it a region that is "off limits" to everyone other than the Taliban and Al Qaeda?
I'm certainly not for taunting and creating issues BUT…I'd rather those of our military and Coalition forces on the ground there be the ones to make this call. I know that we have had men killed this year and many more wounded because of insurgents crossing that same border area into Afghanistan. Somethings gotta change – and fast.
Just my two cents and I'm certainly NOT an expert on military affairs.