US forces mounted secret Pakistan raids in hunt for al-Qaida

[laststeamtrain]

Source: Guardian

US forces mounted secret Pakistan raids in hunt for al-Qaida
Former Nato officer reveals secret night operations in border region which America kept quiet

Declan Walsh in Islamabad
guardian.co.uk, Monday 21 December 2009 21.18 GMT

American special forces have conducted multiple clandestine raids into Pakistan's tribal areas as part of a secret war in the border region where Washington is pressing to expand its drone assassination programme.

A former Nato officer said the incursions, only one of which has been previously reported, occurred between 2003 and 2008, involved helicopter-borne elite soldiers stealing across the border at night, and were never declared to the Pakistani government.

"The Pakistanis were kept entirely in the dark about it. It was one of those things we wouldn't confirm officially with them," said the source, who had detailed knowledge of the operations.

Such operations are a matter of sensitivity in Pakistan. While public opinion has grudgingly tolerated CIA-led drone strikes in the tribal areas, any hint of American "boots on the ground" is greeted with virulent condemnation.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/21/us-forces-secret-pakistan-raids

[ixion]

1. this is one of the reasons I'm against the mandate

because if we'd just stop bombing the crap out of other countries, we could handle the health care without a bogus mandate.

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

2. K and R