When Afghani President Hamid Karzai said in June of this year that Afghanistan, and presumably the US, had the right to cross over the Pakistan border to pursue Taliban & Al Qaeda militants without permission from Pakistan, President Bush said that he understood Karzai’s frustration. When pressed on the matter, Bush refused to say whether or not he agreed with Karzai. So when US Special Forces carried out a secret, illegal mission on September 3 in Northwestern Pakistan, it seemed apparent that Karzai wasn’t simply puffing out his chest in a show of bravado. In fact, we now know that Bush signed an executive order in July granting permission to Special Forces to essentially declare war on Pakistan at their pleasure (the incursion of a foreign army into the territory of another sovereign nation is a declaration of war (before the chorus starts in with, “Bush is the devil,” remember that it was a Democrat-led Congress that gave the president carte blanche to pursue terrorists in any country that harbored them)). And although the world stood up and strongly denounced Russia when she crossed the border into Georgia, the international community seems to have lost their voice in this case.

There is still some confusion regarding the purpose of the mission, but an unnamed US “security official” was quoted by CBS as saying, “I don't know if there were any top targets. But there could well be moderately important terrorist targets.” Pakistani officials suggest otherwise, stating that civilians were the only victims.

We do know that the raid near the village of Angor Adda killed as many as 15 people. The AP spoke with local resident Habib Khan Wazir, and Wazir told of execution style killing of civilians. “I saw 15 bodies inside and outside two homes. They had been shot in the head.”

Further complicating matters was the departure of US-backed Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf’s rule was largely dependent on US support. However, with Musharraf deposed, and with a new civilian government not reliant on the US to maintain power, the response from Pakistan was much harsher than would have been expected if Musharraf were still leading the government. In fact, Pakistani military officials have declared that US troops will be shot if they cross the Pakistani border without the permission of Pakistan. ~CF