Pakistan warns America not to stage any more raids

[Eris0303]

Posted: 5/5/11 at 12:27pm

Pakistan warns America not to stage any more raids

[tazber]

Posted: 5/5/11 at 12:31pm

F**k Pakistan.

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 5/5/11 at 12:32pm

My sentiments exactly. They certainly got paid for doing nothing.

[romantico]

Posted: 5/5/11 at 12:47pm

They seriously expect us to believe they had no idea Bin Laden was living there for 6 years? Way I see it, our relationship with them is more or less over. How can we trust them?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZdJRDpLHbw

Updated On: 5/5/11 at 12:47 PM

[tazber]

Posted: 5/5/11 at 1:01pm

We can't. But we still need them as our army base is there.

Now if we were to pull out of Afghanistan then we would certainly need them a whole lot less.

But the truth is that our relationship with them is very complex and multi-faceted. It's apparently neither easy nor prudent to extricate ourselves from Pakistan entirely.

I certainly hope that our government is at least developing measures to reduce our tangled involvement with them.

Updated On: 5/5/11 at 01:01 PM

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 5/5/11 at 2:04pm

What U.S. army base in Pakistan?

According to the article below:

"The U.S. has around 275 declared U.S. military personnel in Pakistan at any one time, some of them helping train the Pakistan army."

We are better off to continue pulling raids in Pakistan from Afghanistan.

Not one more dollar to Pakistan.
Pakistan orders cuts in U.S. military personnel

[strummergirl]

Posted: 5/5/11 at 2:14pm

"We are better off to continue pulling raids in Pakistan from Afghanistan.

Not one more dollar to Pakistan."

As if those drone attacks have helped us with the Pakistanis (and I mean the people, not the ISI, the politicians, or their military). If anything the Pakistani Army and intelligence have been on message in saying those attacks were on al-Qaeda and Taliban and rarely have acknowledged innocent people being killed in those drone attacks.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/5/11 at 2:15pm

Actually, the exact base has not been specified. The Pakistanis recently evicted the Americans from the the Shamsi Air Base in Balochistan, due to anti-American sentiment, but supposedly there are still a dozen or so secret US military bases throughout Pakistan.

Updated On: 5/5/11 at 02:15 PM

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 5/5/11 at 2:23pm

At least cut a billion of aid for their untruthful "intelligence".

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 5/5/11 at 2:33pm

If we only have 275 troops there, that is nothing, not a real base compared to the numbers in Afghanistan. Of course that is just the "admitted" number so who knows.

And what about Abdul Kadeer Khan who stole atomic secrets (from the fools at the company he worked for in the Netherlands) to give nuclear weapons to Pakistan, where he is treated as a national hero. He admitted selling nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya (and who knows where else). He got a little house arrest from Pakistan, but then freed thanks to their "high" court, whose decisions seem very anti-American.

Did you notice the Pakistani lawyers gathered to pray for Bin Laden after his death?

Is it any wonder the U.S. didn't trust the Pakistanis regarding the raid? Would they have made sure he escaped to avoid the dishonor of being the place he was found after their government head has sworn up and down that he is not in Pakistan?
Pakistan releases 'father' of nuclear bomb from house arrest

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 5/5/11 at 2:37pm

Now if we were to pull out of Afghanistan then we would certainly need them a whole lot less.

And Pakistan knows this. If the US goes, so goes the money, or at least any reasonable person would EXPECT it would. In truth, they'll probably continue the aid. Pakistan could (which I wouldn't doubt for a moment) be playing both sides of the board to to keep the war going.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/5/11 at 2:38pm

What if the raid was like a blackbox workshop production? Would that be ok?

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 5/5/11 at 2:52pm

Raids and drone attacks are two different things, at least in my interpretation.

In a raid you send troops in. The drones are used to spare the risk to the lives of U.S. troops.

The latest sentiment from the White House has been that with a raid you get the evidence (or corpse) you need first hand, not to mention photos on the ground. With bombs from drones, things can be covered up and lied about on the ground. Maybe you did hit your target but the enemy present on the ground lie and claim it was civilians, etc., which seems the typical Islamicist response to everything anyway.

[madbrian]

Posted: 5/5/11 at 3:47pm

I propose a deal: they don't harbor any more terrorists, we don't stage any more raids. Deal?

[strummergirl]

Posted: 5/5/11 at 4:45pm

Thanks for that clarification, nomedplume. But, the Pakistani Army has made it clear the bin Laden raid was the exception, and even in that case there have been many criticisms from Pakistan that it was a breach of sovereignty. They will probably never accept being that out of "the know" (or so they protest) ever again.

Now from the US perspective, they have every right to withhold information to Pakistan just like many of our own allies withhold their information and intelligence from use for several decades. With that said, it is without a doubt the most dangerous country in the world and for decades it has been an ally in the region from Nixon forward. Despite the global outcry, I am pretty cynical that anything major happens with Pakistan in both the aid it receives or the continued complicated relationship (be it this or AQ Khan).

Clinton and John Kerry have been very cautious about the Pakistan backlash and possibly cutting them off. It arguably puts more risk in the region that could harm US interests. Pakistan already used its soap box on the raid issue to take shots at India.
Updated On: 5/5/11 at 04:45 PM

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 5/5/11 at 5:58pm

"While the two sides fired verbal volleys at each other long distance, Pakistan's envoy to Washington, Hussain Haqqani and US interlocutors tried to calm things down by emphasizing cooperative aspects of the relationship. Several key US players, including Senator John McCain , urged the administration not to push Pakistan to the wall.

But the Obama administration's tact is being tested by stunning leaks from Pakistani investigators who took over the Abbottabad compound, including disclosures that that bin Laden was killed in cold blood, as witnessed by his 12-year old daughter, and that the raiding party encountered no resistance at all in terms of firing.

Pakistani officials also reportedly sold photographs of the carnage, showing unarmed men (excepting bin Laden, whose body was taken away by American forces) lying in pools of blood, to western news agencies. They said the three men had all been shot in cold blood by US forces."

Anybody seen these photos published yet? I gather this is why the story of armed resistance was revised. Was there an initial report of a "firefight"? Then a revision to one man being armed? Did he fire in resistance? Hard to believe no one there would be armed given the barbed wire and secrecy around the place. Still, none of our Seals were injured. Is there a question whether he could have been taken alive and whether, if so, he should have? Would Pakistani forces have taken him alive? If this is considered a wartime encounter, does there have to be an offer to the enemy to surrender? We are told the Seals asked bin Laden to surrender and he did not.

Since the White House was watching movies from the Seals' helmets of what was happening during the raid you'd think they had access to the facts, though it may have been confusing and the language used may have been Arabic.
The Economic Times - US, Pakistan threaten each other with military action

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 5/5/11 at 6:27pm

The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams has involved himself. This is a mistake on his part. He should consult the Bishops first.

I can't help remembering that he was not Prince Charles' choice for the new head of the Anglican Church, which was Bishop of London Dr. Richard Chartres.
Rowan Williams in row over Osama bin Laden killing

[nygrl232]

Posted: 5/5/11 at 9:03pm

Killed in cold blood? Do people not understand how raids work? Team 6 wasn't there to steal underwear.