Always the Last to Be Told

But anyone who is surprised has not been paying attention or reading any history text.

The United States military since 2004 has used broad, secret authority to carry out nearly a dozen previously undisclosed attacks against Al Qaeda and other militants in Syria, Pakistan and elsewhere, according to senior American officials.

[...]

The recent raid into Syria was not the first time that Special Operations forces had operated in that country, according to a senior military official and an outside adviser to the Pentagon.

[...]

Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Bush issued a classified order authorizing the C.I.A. to kill or capture Qaeda militants around the globe. By 2003, American intelligence agencies and the military had developed a much deeper understanding of Al Qaeda’s extensive global network, and Mr. Rumsfeld pressed hard to unleash the military’s vast firepower against militants outside the combat zones of Iraq and Afghanistan.

[...]

Apart from the 2006 raid into Pakistan, the American officials refused to describe in detail what they said had been nearly a dozen previously undisclosed attacks, except to say they had been carried out in Syria, Pakistan and other countries. They made clear that there had been no raids into Iran using that authority, but they suggested that American forces had carried out reconnaissance missions in Iran using other classified directives.

  NYT

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Keepin' Us Safe

Intelligence reports for more than a year had been streaming in about Osama bin Laden’s terrorism network rebuilding in the Pakistani tribal areas, a problem that had been exacerbated by years of missteps in Washington and the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, sharp policy disagreements, and turf battles between American counterterrorism agencies.

[A] new plan, outlined in a highly classified Pentagon order, was intended to eliminate some of those battles. And it was meant to pave a smoother path into the tribal areas for American commandos, who for years have bristled at what they see as Washington’s risk-averse attitude toward Special Operations missions inside Pakistan.

[...]

But more than six months later, the Special Operations forces are still waiting for the green light. The plan has been held up in Washington by the very disagreements it was meant to eliminate. A senior Defense Department official said there was “mounting frustration” in the Pentagon at the continued delay.

[...]

American intelligence officials say that the Qaeda hunt in Pakistan, code-named Operation Cannonball by the C.I.A. in 2006, was often undermined by bitter disagreements within the Bush administration and within the C.I.A.

[...]

Current and former military and intelligence officials said that the war in Iraq consistently diverted resources and high-level attention from the tribal areas.

[...]

[It] is increasingly clear that the Bush administration will leave office with Al Qaeda having successfully relocated its base from Afghanistan to Pakistan’s tribal areas, where it has rebuilt much of its ability to attack from the region and broadcast its messages to militants across the world.

[...]

Just as it had on the day before 9/11, Al Qaeda now has a band of terrorist camps from which to plan and train for attacks against Western targets, including the United States. Officials say the new camps are smaller than the ones the group used prior to 2001. However, despite dozens of American missile strikes in Pakistan since 2002, one retired C.I.A. officer estimated that the makeshift training compounds now have as many as 2,000 local and foreign militants, up from several hundred three years ago.

  More – much more – at the NYT

Nice goin’ BushCo. And thanks.

How Much Longer Will Musharraf Last?

[Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz] Sharif said [president Musharraf] must be held accountable for abrogating the constitution and the 1999 coup, when then army chief Musharraf ousted Sharif.

Sharif was allowed back from exile late last year as staunch U.S. ally Musharraf's power was ebbing following a clash with the judiciary. The two-time prime minister's party came second in a February election.

"We asked you to quit with honor after the election but you didn't," Sharif said in a speech to up to 15,000 protesters outside parliament, referring to Musharraf.

"Now people have given a new judgment for you ... they want you to be held accountable," he said, as the crowd shouted "hang Musharraf."

  Raw Story

>

SNAFU

Pakistan said on Wednesday an "unprovoked and cowardly" air strike by U.S. forces had killed 11 Pakistani soldiers on its border with Afghanistan and undermined the basis of security cooperation.

[...]

he attack "hit at the very basis of cooperation and sacrifice with which Pakistani soldiers are supporting the coalition in the war against terror," the military said.

  Raw Story

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

There Goes Pakistan

[A] visit by Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte turned out to be series of indignities and chilly, almost hostile, receptions as he bore the brunt of the full range of complaints that Pakistanis now feel freer to air with the end of military rule by Washington’s favored ally, President Pervez Musharraf.

Faced with a new democratic lineup that is demanding talks, not force, in the fight against terrorism, Mr. Negroponte publicly swallowed a bitter pill at his final news conference on Thursday, acknowledging that there would now be some real differences in strategy between the United States and Pakistan.

  NYT

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Meanwhile, in Pakistan

The United States has escalated its unilateral strikes against al-Qaeda members and fighters operating in Pakistan's tribal areas, partly because of anxieties that the country's new leaders will insist on a scaling back of military operations in that country, according to U.S. officials.

Washington is worried that pro-Western President Pervez Musharraf, who has generally supported the U.S. strikes, will almost certainly have reduced powers in the months ahead [ed: see this article], and so it wants to inflict as much damage as it can to al-Qaeda's network now, the officials said.

  WaPo

Which is probably the same reasoning al-Maliki is using in attacks on Basra. When Bush is gone, he can’t be sure he’ll get the same backing.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

The Terrorist

Tom Englehardt discusses the ongoing and little-reported airstrikes in which the U.S. kills other innocent, defenseless people in Pakistan and Somalia in our ever-expanding war of terror.

Next Up...Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Islamic militants known as the Pakistani Taliban have extended their reach across all seven of Pakistan's frontier tribal regions and have infiltrated Peshawar, the provincial capital, heightening U.S. concerns that an insurrection may be broadening in the nuclear-armed nation.

  McClatchy

Well, that should comfort you.

Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, who is the government’s prime suspect in the killing of Benazir Bhutto, says that the Pak army is illegally invading tribal areas and treating the people unjustly, so the Taliban had to organize. He also says that it’s not the Taliban who have used nukes, and people would be better advised to worry about nukes in the hands of people who have proven their willingness to use them. Or words to that effect.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

All in the Family: More Bhutto Intrigue

December 14, 2007:

There are deep divisions within the Bhutto family. In 1996, Mir Murtaza Bhutto, Benazir's younger brother and her political opponent, was brutally gunned down just steps from his house in Karachi, while his sister was the prime minister.

The authorities claimed he died in a police shootout with his body guards, but the public -- depending on whom you talk to -- point fingers at Benazir and her husband Asif ali Zardari.

[...]

Fatima is Murtaza's eldest daughter. A graduate of Columbia University, the 25-year-old spends her days writing and campaigning against her aunt, who, she says, is "one of the most corrupt leaders the world has seen."

Many Pakistanis see Fatima as an alternative to Benazir, a serious challenger in the coming years and the rightful heir to the country's most powerful political dynasty.

[...]

"Part of the problem with Pakistani politics is that an entire nation has been held hostage to a very few, who treat politics like it's a family business. We need the field to open up so that is why I am not running."

  PBS Frontline/World

Because….your mother is not part of the family???

Fatima Bhutto campaigning for
her mother in Pakistan's Sindh province.

The questions and accusations grow as elections draw closer. Before I leave she tells me that she is worried about what Benazir's return means for the country. "Her legacy as a two-time prime minister is a legacy of gross corruption. She is estimated to have stolen $1.5 to $3 billion from the Pakistani treasury. It's one of state violence..."

When I ask Fatima if a reconciliation is in the cards, her response is a vehement, "No."

"Benazir needs to be tried in court for the crimes that she has committed. We do not see eye to eye on anything and we do not subscribe to her distorted version of democracy."

It would seem there are many places to look for the agent of Ms. Bhutto's death.

Huckabee: Be Very Afraid

"We ought to have an immediate, very clear monitoring of our borders and particularly to make sure if there's any unusal activity of Pakistanis coming into the country. We just need to be very, very thorough in looking at every aspect of our own security internally because, again, we live in a very, very dangerous time," Huckabee said during a news conference Thursday night in West Des Moines.

  Radio Iowa

Now he’s afraid specifically of murderers coming in hordes from Pakistan. How stupid. They didn’t come streaming in after the earlier failed attack on Bhutto that killed 136. Pakistan didn’t just now become a center of terrorist activity.

Fear-mongering. Generalized profiling. Fascism.

Huckabee called Bhutto's death is a tragedy, but he suggested she had been a threat to Islamic fundamentalists. "An educated, sophisticated, strong, capable woman leader -- that does pose a threat to those who don't believe that women should be given that platform and that level of equality," Huckabee said.

Not-so-subliminal message: if Hillary is elected, we can expect terrorist attacks here.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Further On Bhutto Assassination

A friend of Benazir Bhutto makes a good point: the killing was not a normal suicide bombing, because the killer made a point to shoot Ms. Bhutto first. The implication is that it was a government hit (making use of fanatics) disguised to look like a terrorist suicide bombing. I'd guess it could well be, and in fact, my jaded nature says that's most likely.

It also could be that, the previous suicide bombing attempt at killing her having failed, they decided the bombing part alone was not guarantee enough. Either way, it's not a simple terrorist attack on a group of innocent people; it's a winning situation for Musharraf.

Nawaz Sharif picks up Bhutto's torch, and George Bush claims it was the work of "cowardly extremists".

Hat tip to TPM, which also reports that a group of Sharif supporters took sniper fire earlier today, making it all the more suspicious.

Benazir Bhutto - Assassinated

Exiled, returned. Blocked from participating. Musharraf then called down an 'emergency' lockdown of the country, imprisoned opponents and protestors. Lifted martial law when international pressure became too great and promised he'd allow the elections to go on. But apparently, someone just couldn't take the chance that he might lose anything. Bhutto was shot and killed today at a political rally, along with 20 other people.

**The Yahoo report was sloppy. Apparently, it was a suicide bombing. When she'd returned from exile, a suicide bomber managed to kill 136 people gathered to receive her. Taliban will get the blame, not Musharraf. Terrorists come in handy when you need them. Ask George.

******Okay, I'm sorry. It appears that, sloppiness notwithstanding, Bhutto was shot first, and then the suicide bomber blew himself up.

Update

U.S. Support to Dicatator Musharraf

[A] considerable amount of the money the U.S. gives to Pakistan is administered not through U.S. agencies or joint U.S.-Pakistani programs. Instead, the U.S. gives Musharraf's government about $200 million annually and his military $100 million monthly in the form of direct cash transfers. Once that money leaves the U.S. Treasury, Musharraf can do with it whatever he wants. He needs only promise in a secret annual meeting that he'll use it to invest in the Pakistani people.

  TPM Muckraker

And of course, Pakistan has nuclear weapons, and has traded nuclear technology with countries considered to be our enemies.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

The Pakistan Problem

Condi Rice announced Washington's reaction to nuclear-armed Pakistan's new dictatorship, according to an NPR clip, saying that Musharraf has been put on notice. She said that while there are difficult circumstances in Pakistan...

"We've been very clear that extra-constitutional measures are not the way to deal with difficult circumstances."

To which Musharraf surely replied, "Waterboarding."

P.S. I understand that, while Musharraf is claiming the need to take dictatorial powers as being the result of the threat of terrorism (careening out of control, one would have to assume), there's the little detail that the Pakistan Supreme Court was about to rule on whether his re-election was legal. Let's try to think about those two things and see if we can't figure out which one is the real reason he shut down the government.

Interestingly, Bush hasn't made any public statement at all. I think he's probably figuring how he's going to pull the same stunt. As W3IAI points out, Condi also indicated that the actuality of Musharraf's dictatorship doesn't matter as long as "elections" go forward. That must be one of those other types of democracies the Bush administration keeps telling us about.

Our Pal Musharraf Cracks Down

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf suspended Pakistan's constitution and deployed troops in the capital Saturday, declaring that rising Islamic extremism had forced him to take emergency measures. He also replaced the chief justice and blacked out the independent media that refused to support him.

Authorities began rounding up opposition politicians, cut phone lines in Islamabad and took all but state television off air

[…]

Musharraf's order allows courts to function but suspends some fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution, including freedom of speech. It also allows authorities to detain people without informing them of the charges.

  Yahoo

....but hey, do what you want....we do.

Welcome Home to Pakistan, Benazir

Two bombs exploded Thursday night near a truck carrying former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on her triumphant return to Pakistan after eight years in exile, killing at least 108 people and wounding 150, an official said. Party workers and police said Bhutto was unhurt.

[...]

Asked about such threats on Wednesday in Dubai, Bhutto said Islam forbids suicide bombings and attacks on her. "Muslims know if they attack a woman they will burn in hell," she said.

  Yahoo

Welcome to the 21st century Benazir.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Meanwhile in Pakistan

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was deported to Saudi Arabia Monday, hours after he had landed in Pakistan following seven years in exile hoping to campaign against the country's U.S.-allied military ruler, officials said.

[...]

The deportation came despite a landmark Supreme Court ruling last month that the two-time former premier, whose elected government was ousted by Musharraf in a 1999 coup, had the right to return to Pakistan and that authorities should not obstruct him.

  Yahoo

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

All Right, Who Leaked This One?

AUGUST 1:

[Barack] Obama said if elected in November 2008 he would be willing to attack inside Pakistan with or without approval from the Pakistani government, a move that would likely cause anxiety in the already troubled region.

"If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will," Obama said.

  Reuters

AUGUST 2:

Q: I gather, Tony, from your answer to Martha that you don’t think very much of Barack Obama’s suggestion, he’d send U.S. troops into Pakistan to take care of those safe havens.

TONY SNOW: Well, let me just say we think that our approach to Pakistan is one that not only respects the sovereignty of Pakistan as a sovereign government, but is also designed to work in a way where we are working in cooperation with the local government. So we think that our policy and our approach is the right one.

  White House press release

AUGUST 23:

Newly uncovered "rules of engagement" show the U.S. military gave elite units broad authority more than three years ago to pursue suspected terrorists into Pakistan, with no mention of telling the Pakistanis in advance.

[...]

The documents obtained by The Associated Press offer a detailed glimpse at what Army Rangers and other terrorist-hunting units were authorized to do earlier in the war on terror. And interviews with military officials suggest some of those same guidelines have remained in place, such as the right to "hot pursuit" across the border.

[...]

Other grounds for incursions into Pakistan, according to this summary, were "personnel recovery," including rescuing troops after the downing of aircraft; and troops "in contact with" the enemy, meaning under fire.

[...]

Told of the guidelines, Pakistani military spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said, "This is all nonsense. Pakistan never allowed the coalition forces to enter into our territory while chasing militants. There was no such agreement, there was no such understanding."

  

Dude, I don't think you get it....it was authorized without an agreement. Just like Obama would have it.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Tough on Terrorists and the People Who Harbor Them

Remember A. Q. Khan, who had a network selling nuclear-weapons technology to such places as Libya, Iran and North Korea? Well, it seems he's done his three years of house arrest in Pakistan and is now a free man.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Our friend Musharraf making noise in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD,PAKISTAN - All foreign students studying at Islamic schools in Pakistan will be ordered to leave the country, President Pervez Musharraf said Friday.

About 1,400 foreign students are enrolled in madrassas, or Islamic seminaries, some of which have been linked to militant groups.

The foreign students "have to be removed from the country," Musharraf said at a news conference Friday. "Even those having dual nationality. No one in the madrassas will be allowed to spread extremism and hatred in the society."

  Houston Chronicle article

And heaven knows, if hatred and extremism is being spread, it's not by any of the Pakistani students.

Musharraf stressed Friday that he is very serious about the current crackdown, and told reporters he personally is supervising the operation.

"I have directed the police and law enforcement agencies not to arrest 'nobodys,' but only the leaders of banned militant organizations," Musharraf said. "The operation will continue."

Nearly 600 people were detained in the last week's crackdown against banned militant groups. But none of those detained are leaders of several known militant groups, some of whom emerged from previous crackdowns to make speeches, raise funds and publish magazines that openly advertised for recruits to attend training camps for jihad.

Afghanistan's government says numerous Taliban officials continue to live and organize in Pakistan, an assertion that Musharraf's government denies.

I guess "nobodys" will now be allowed to spread extremism and hatred as long as they aren't enrolled in a madrassa.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.