.George W Bush gave secret order approving Pakistan ground raids
Mr Bush approved the orders in July, The New York Times reported. This follows a tripling of missile strikes over the past year into Pakistan that have been attributed to the US.
Pakistan's leaders have pledged to defend their national territory if America launches further cross-border attacks.
They said they feared a popular uprising in the lawless tribal areas on the north-west frontier with Afghanistan if the US continued its new aggressive policy.
Adml Michael Mullen, the US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said earlier this week that he had commissioned "a new, more comprehensive military strategy for the region that covers both sides of that border."
His statement followed an unprecedented US helicopter-borne commando assault on a village inside Pakistan last week in which 20 people were killed, including women and children.
Gen Asfaq Kiyani, Pakistan's army chief, criticised the raid. "The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country will be defended at all cost," he said, adding that there was no "agreement or understanding with the coalition forces whereby they are allowed to conduct operations on our side of the border."
Highlighting the killing of the civilians, he said that such "reckless actions only help the militants and further fuel the militancy in the area."
Adml Mullen claimed that the border lands were a sanctuary for Taliban and al-Qaeda, who posed a revived threat to allied forces. Outlining the need for a broader approach, he said: "I'm not convinced we're winning it in Afghanistan. I am convinced we can."
Mr Bush underscored the new shift in strategy earlier this week when he said Pakistan and Afghanistan were all part of the same "theatre" of anti-terrorism operations. The apparent breakdown in relations between the two allies has occurred only two weeks after Gen Kiyani met Adml Mullen aboard a US aircraft carrier.
Yesterday Gordon Brown said "the porousness of the border is a problem for both countries", adding that he would also discuss it with Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan's new civilian president.
Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, welcomed the new US focus on the border areas.
He said: "We must go to places where there is training and hideout facilities [for terrorists] and destroy that."
Telegraph
Tell them that we face a popular uprising across the US, if the tribal people are left unmolested to continue to attack our soldiers in Afghanistan.
And guess which group has more power.
Pakistan's leaders have pledged to defend their national territory if America launches further cross-border attacks.
They said they feared a popular uprising in the lawless tribal areas on the north-west frontier with Afghanistan if the US continued its new aggressive policy.
Adml Michael Mullen, the US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said earlier this week that he had commissioned "a new, more comprehensive military strategy for the region that covers both sides of that border."
His statement followed an unprecedented US helicopter-borne commando assault on a village inside Pakistan last week in which 20 people were killed, including women and children.
Gen Asfaq Kiyani, Pakistan's army chief, criticised the raid. "The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country will be defended at all cost," he said, adding that there was no "agreement or understanding with the coalition forces whereby they are allowed to conduct operations on our side of the border."
Highlighting the killing of the civilians, he said that such "reckless actions only help the militants and further fuel the militancy in the area."
Adml Mullen claimed that the border lands were a sanctuary for Taliban and al-Qaeda, who posed a revived threat to allied forces. Outlining the need for a broader approach, he said: "I'm not convinced we're winning it in Afghanistan. I am convinced we can."
Mr Bush underscored the new shift in strategy earlier this week when he said Pakistan and Afghanistan were all part of the same "theatre" of anti-terrorism operations. The apparent breakdown in relations between the two allies has occurred only two weeks after Gen Kiyani met Adml Mullen aboard a US aircraft carrier.
Yesterday Gordon Brown said "the porousness of the border is a problem for both countries", adding that he would also discuss it with Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan's new civilian president.
Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, welcomed the new US focus on the border areas.
He said: "We must go to places where there is training and hideout facilities [for terrorists] and destroy that."
Telegraph
Tell them that we face a popular uprising across the US, if the tribal people are left unmolested to continue to attack our soldiers in Afghanistan.
And guess which group has more power.
posted by madtom at 10:04 PM
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