With Allies Like These

26 September 2008



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Pakistan Shoots as US Helicopters

The Pakistani government has given its forces orders to repel any US or Afghani forces crossing the border from Afghanistan pursuing possible Al Qaeda or Taliban operatives. Yesterday, two US helicopters received fire from Pakistani ground forces. The US claimed the choppers hadn’t crossed the border and didn’t return fire. The Pakistanis said both of those statements were false. And these two countries are supposed to be allies.

The latest twist comes from Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari (Mr. Benazir Bhutto) who claims that his people fired flares to warn the US helicopters that they had crossed the border. That doesn’t square with what the US government is saying, that small arms fire was involved. And it doesn’t agree with what the Pakistani military said, “When the helicopters passed over our border post and were well within Pakistani territory, own security forces fires anticipatory warning shots. On this, the helicopters returned fire and flew back”

Regardless of the ordnance used, the situation is grave. American forces and Pakistani troops are supposed to be on the same side. This gives one an idea of just how bad the relationship between the two countries truly is. The American government is not too secretly complaining that the Pakistanis aren’t doing enough to fight Islamic yahoos in Waziristan. The Pakistani government is upset that the Americans think they can violate Pakistani territory whenever they choose.

The solution to this friendly fire problem isn’t all that hard. The US and Pakistani top generals, along with help from the US ambassador and the Pakistani foreign ministry, just have to sit down and agree on rules of engagement and on how to handle border-related issues. That, though, isn’t the real issue, merely a symptom of the problem.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told journalists Wednesday, "We will not tolerate any act against our sovereignty and integrity in the name of the war against terrorism. We are fighting extremism and terror not for any another country, but our own country. This is our own war.” There’s the trouble – the Prime Minister thinks just like President Bush: no compromise, no discussion, just unilateralism. The good news is that neither man is likely to be in office much longer.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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