Pakistan border row exposes USA’s vulnerability in the region

* Former US state dept official says Pakistan played its ‘trump card’
* US think tank director fears political repercussions from ‘border violence’

WASHINGTON: The United States and Pakistan have never had an easy partnership, but despite heated feuds on everything from drone attacks to terror plots, the two governments have found a way to work together.

Now, Pakistan has played what some experts consider the ultimate trump card – closing its main border crossing with Afghanistan to US-led forces who depend on the route for oil, ammunition and other war supplies.

Islamabad took action after accusing NATO helicopters of killing three Pakistani soldiers on their own territory, a stark reminder of Pakistan’s sovereignty concerns as it cooperates with the US. Gunmen torched more than two dozen NATO supply trucks Friday in southern Pakistan.

Former US State Department official Marvin Weinbaum said Pakistan felt obliged to act tough at a time when the civilian government is under growing pressure, including from the powerful military, after its response to major floods.

“They have to show their trump card because it’s for domestic political reasons, especially with a weak government. But it is serious and it points out our vulnerability,” said Weinbaum, a scholar-in-residence at the Middle East Institute.

A prolonged closure of the border would mark “a fundamental change in our relationship with Pakistan. For the US, Pakistan can be reluctant to do this or reluctant to do that, and that is all ultimately tolerable as long as the supply routes remain largely open and protected,” he added.

Repercussions: But Shuja Nawaz, director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council think-tank, feared political repercussions from the border violence. He faulted NATO for initially saying it acted in self-defense.

Such incidents “feed the paranoia inside Pakistan’s military and civil establishments that perhaps there is some sort of master plan to take advantage and cross the border at will,” Nawaz said.

“There is a very strong possibility that it could get out of hand,” he added.

Richard Holbrooke, the veteran diplomat who serves as US pointman on Pakistan and Afghanistan, said ties with Pakistan were “more complicated than any strategic relationship I’ve ever been involved in.”

“But at the end of the day, success in Afghanistan – however you define success – is not achievable unless Pakistan is part of the solution, not part of the problem,” he told a forum in Washington.

Fundamentally, Pakistan’s chief objective is to limit the influence of rival India in Afghanistan, US National War College associate professor Bernard Finel said.

But without Pakistani cooperation, the US would have to scale back any goals of nation-building in Afghanistan and adopt a lighter footprint, Finel said. (AFP)

Pakistan reminds US that supply routes vulnerable

• In border row, Pakistan shows US vulnerability
• Former US state dept official says Pakistan played its ‘trump card’
• US think tank director fears political repercussions from ‘border violence’

WASHINGTON: The United States and Pakistan have never had an easy partnership, but despite heated feuds on everything from drone attacks to terror plots, the two governments have found a way to work together.

Now, Pakistan has played what some experts consider the ultimate trump card – closing its main border crossing with Afghanistan to US-led forces who depend on the route for oil, ammunition and other war supplies.

Islamabad took action after accusing NATO helicopters of killing three Pakistani soldiers on their own territory, a stark reminder of Pakistan’s sovereignty concerns as it cooperates with the US. Gunmen torched more than two dozen NATO supply trucks Friday in southern Pakistan.

Former US State Department official Marvin Weinbaum said Pakistan felt obliged to act tough at a time when the civilian government is under growing pressure, including from the powerful military, after its response to major floods.

“They have to show their trump card because it’s for domestic political reasons, especially with a weak government. But it is serious and it points out our vulnerability,” said Weinbaum, a scholar-in-residence at the Middle East Institute.

A prolonged closure of the border would mark “a fundamental change in our relationship with Pakistan. For the US, Pakistan can be reluctant to do this or reluctant to do that, and that is all ultimately tolerable as long as the supply routes remain largely open and protected,” he added.

Repercussions: But Shuja Nawaz, director of the South Asia Center at the Atlantic Council think-tank, feared political repercussions from the border violence. He faulted NATO for initially saying it acted in self-defense.

Such incidents “feed the paranoia inside Pakistan’s military and civil establishments that perhaps there is some sort of master plan to take advantage and cross the border at will,” Nawaz said.

“There is a very strong possibility that it could get out of hand,” he added.

Richard Holbrooke, the veteran diplomat who serves as US pointman on Pakistan and Afghanistan, said ties with Pakistan were “more complicated than any strategic relationship I’ve ever been involved in.”

“But at the end of the day, success in Afghanistan – however you define success – is not achievable unless Pakistan is part of the solution, not part of the problem,” he told a forum in Washington.

Fundamentally, Pakistan’s chief objective is to limit the influence of rival India in Afghanistan, US National War College associate professor Bernard Finel said.

But without Pakistani cooperation, the US would have to scale back any goals of nation-building in Afghanistan and adopt a lighter footprint, Finel said. afp

Pakistan Warns NATO Against Future Attacks

Pakistani officials are continuing to angrily condemn NATO over yesterday’s attack on its security forces, with Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani warning that the nation has “other options” for possible retaliation if NATO refuses to apologize.

So far Pakistan has closed one of its major border crossings to Afghanistan to NATO supply traffic, but a number of senators have been calling on the nation to close the borders entirely, and protests have broken out across the nation condemning NATO in general and the US in particular.

Growing numbers of NATO tankers have been set ablaze by militants across Pakistan as well, and the future status of Pakistan as a key ally in the war on terror remains very much in doubt, as Zardari’s pro-US reputation becomes increasingly untenable politically, and key allies like Gilani and Interior Minister Rehman Malik stake out independent positions.

The Thursday attack, which killed three members of Pakistan’s Frontier Corps, was just the latest in a number of cross-border strikes, which are coming at a time when the US is also dramatically escalating its drone strikes against Pakistan’s tribal areas. Pakistan’s military is fighting a number of wars in the region, largely at the Obama Administration’s behest, but the strikes seem to be causing a major rift, and one which US officials are continuing to downplay even as it clearly worsens.

INDIAN TERRORISM : Police attack worshippers in Kashmir

Zubair Ahmed, who was wounded by gunfire, is wheeled on a stretcher at a hospital in Srinagar on October 1, 2010.

Paramilitary troops in Indian-administered Kashmir have opened fire on several Muslim worshippers as they were heading to a mosque for Friday Prayers.

Police say one person was injured when they opened fire on stone-throwing demonstrators who defied a curfew in the southern parts of Kashmir.

The families of the victims, however, say they were shot by Indian police while en route to the Friday Prayers in the predominantly Muslim region.

A Press TV correspondent said several injured people were rushed to the hospital after scuffles with police in the disputed Himalayan valley.

The developments come as authorities decided to extend the curfew on Friday, to prevent further protests after prayers.

Meanwhile, key separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has called for a 10-day protest across the Muslim-majority region.

Kashmir has been in a siege-like state of strikes and curfew since June when a 17-year-old student was killed by police. More than 110 people have been killed over the past few months in protests, which are the biggest pro-independence rallies in decades.

Amnesty International has recently called on India to take immediate steps to protect and respect human rights in Kashmir.

“Security forces should use the minimum force necessary to defend themselves or others against an imminent threat of death or serious injury. They should not employ intentional lethal use of firearms except where such use is strictly unavoidable in order to protect life,” an Amnesty International statement said.

NATO’s Afghan-bound supply trucks stopped

Islamabad/Peshawar—Pakistani officials said Thursday that they had blocked NATO supply trucks from entering Afghanistan at one key border post after an early morning NATO air strike that killed three Pakistani border security soldiers. A senior military official said the move was made in protest of that attack and other recent NATO air strikes in Pakistan. Pakistan believes the strikes have been carried out as “pressure tactics” meant to force the Pakistani army to conduct operations against al-Qaeda and Afghan insurgents based in the mountainous tribal area of North Waziristan, the official said.

“There is no justification for these attacks and they must come to an end with immediate effect,” the military official said. The blockade comes days after Pakistan protested NATO airstrikes that killed insurgents inside Pakistan and threatened to cut off supply routes.

The uncalled for and unjustified adventurism of the NATO forces operating inside Afghanistan continued side by side the drone attacks on Pakistani soil Thursday as a fresh attack by the allied forces in Kurram agency resulted in Shahadat of three security personnels and injuries to three others. The NATO helicopters, as the reports said, struck twice in two areas in Kurram agency Thursday morning.

In the meanwhile, yet another drone attack in North Waziristan agency Wednesday late night left at least five people dead and three others wounded.

As many as three strikes by the NATO Apache copters in North Waziristan and Kurram agencies on last Friday , Saturday and Sunday, it may be recalled had killed over fifty people. Amid strong protest by the Pakistani government, the NATO officials had claimed that their choppers had struck in response to the militant’s attack on their out post Khost Afghanistan and that they, (NATO) had the agreement with Pakistani government to violate Pakistani Air space up to few kilometers what it termed in hot pursuit of a target. However, their claims could never be substantiated.

Reports reaching here said a couple of NATO helicopters once again did the adventurism Thursday morning coming deep into Kurram and attacked security post of the FC in Mandato Kandao area.

“The NATO helicopters intruded into Pakistan territory early Thursday morning and targeted a security check post killing three soldiers. officials told Observer adding the NATO choppers hit the Mandato Kandao security check post at Pak-Afghan border in upper Kurram Agency killing three security personnel and wounding equal number of others in shelling.

The NATO officials said Thursday it was investigating reports that three of Pakistan soldiers were killed in a cross-border attack by coalition helicopters based in Afghanistan.

While the FC officials confirmed that NATO helicopters launched bombing in Mand-To-Kandao area, located in Kurram District on Pak-Afghan border, resulting in killing three security men and injuring many others.

NATO helicopters intruded up to five kilometers (three miles) into Pakistan’s airspace, the NATO again came up with a lame excuse that the strike may be in response to the insurgents attempted ambush on their men inside Afghanistan.

“Early this morning, a coalition force observed what they believed was a group of insurgents attempting to fire mortars at a coalition base in the border area of Dand Patan district, Paktiya province,” NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in statement claiming the team reported they did not cross into Pakistan airspace and believed the insurgent location was on the Afghan side of the border.”

The NATO helicopters, as the reports say again violated the Pakistani Air space and pounded border area Pashu Kandao area of Kurram Agency in second such attack by coalition forces inside Pakistan on Thursday.

“After being informed by Pakistan military officials that their border forces had been hit, ISAF said it was working with the Pakistanis “to ascertain if the two events are linked”. The ever innocent and ignorant ISAF officials said.

On the other hand the notorious American drones struck again struck in Meazer area of Tehsil Datta Khel some 30 kilometers from Miran Shah , the headquarters of North Waziristan Agency on the night between Wednesday and Thursday and targeted a vehicle with a couple of hell fire missiles killing five people and wounding three others. The officials and the locals said the vehicle was destroyed completely and their was no report of any known person killing in fresh missiles hit though some officials claim two foreign militants were among the dead.

The locals said a number of drones or the CIA operated pilot less US planes were seen flying at low altitude.

It will be pertinent to mention that the month of September has seen maximum number of drones attacks as the predator planes struck almost daily our northern borders and conducted 20 strikes in North Waziristan Agency and three in South Waziristan during this month.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has emphatically stated that it will not allow violation of its territorial borders and protect its sovereignty at all costs.

Commenting on violation of Pakistan’s territory by NATO forces Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit in his weekly press briefing on Thursday said Pakistan also sent its response to Nato headquarter and strongly protested to ISAF/Nato on these incidents of aerial engagements from the Afghanistan side into Pakistani territory by ISAF/Nato helicopters and we have been assured that the ISAF and Nato forces will strictly abide by their mandate and not infringe on the country’s sovereignty.

He said these incidents are a clear violation and breach of the UN mandate under which ISAF operates. The spokesman said investigation is going on in the attack by Nato helicopters in Kurram Agency, in which three Pakistani soldiers were killed.

The spokesman said Pakistan has always emphasized the need for coordinated and joint action against forces inimical to regional and global peace. About Thursday’s attack on a check post by Nato helicopters in Kurram Agency, the spokesman said the concerned authorities are currently investigating the incident and the response will follow as soon as the investigation is completed.

Asked about media reports that the terrorists’ roots are in Pakistan and the drone attacks are part of the effort to dislodge them. Thre spokesman said we were not aware of any terrorist plots as was reported in the international media and nor were we given any intelligence to this effect. He reiterated that Pakistan is committed not to allow its territory for terrorist actions anywhere in the world and is doing its utmost to ensure this.

CIA chief in Pakistan

Islamabad—CIA Chief Leon Panetta has arrived here Wednesday and met ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmad Shujja Pasha.

Sources told matters related to bilateral ties, cooperation in war on terror, enhancement of intelligence sharing and operations against Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants featured in the meeting. Both of the chiefs of intelligence agencies agreed on making system of intelligence sharing more effective for curbing terror related acts, sources added.

ISI chief condemned the recent strikes by NATO forces in Pakistan territory and voiced protest on this count. Pakistan policy on drone attacks also came under discussion and CIA chief was apprised of negative implications of drone attacks.

According to sources Leon Panetta said “we want to bolster cooperation with Pakistan in all the anti terrorism fields. Pakistan security and intelligence agencies have played a pivotal role for security and peace in tribal areas”. Pakistan sources told chiefs of both the intelligence agencies always maintain consultation process at top level for expanding cooperation in war on terror.

Pakistan army chief demands removal of Zardari loyalists from cabinet

Military impatience chimes with public anger at government’s performance in handling floods crisis

Pakistan‘s army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, has handed a list of corrupt or allegedly incompetent ministers to President Asif Ali Zardari, demanding their removal, according to western and Pakistani officials.

The tension between Pakistan’s civilian and military leaders is the latest political fallout from historic floods that have triggered stringent criticism of the government’s handling of the crisis.

Much of the controversy centres on Zardari, who brought scorn on himself by visiting a family chateau in France as the floods gathered pace in August – a move advisers admit was a public relations disaster.

A senior western official confirmed reports that the army chief had asked the president to remove named loyalists from his 60-member cabinet as part of an internal reform process. The official did not give the requested names.

Analysts said the army stance reflected a broader public impatience with the government’s performance. An opinion poll taken last July gave Zardari a 20% popularity rating.

“The way things are configured now, everyone – the army, the institutions, the man on the street – would like to see some kind of shakeup in the current government,” said Cyril Almeida of Dawn.com.

But he added: “I don’t think it will work. The more pressure you pile on Zardari, the more likely he is to dig in his heels.”

Over the past week the country’s political classes have been seized by a wave of rumours about an army intervention in politics, ranging from the installation of a Bangladesh-style technocratic government, to the removal of Zardari, to a straightforward coup.

A close Zardari aide denied that the army was pressuring the government. “It’s absolute rubbish. This is a rumour-driven crisis, driven by those with a pathological hatred of president Zardari and the PPP. They have been predicting his downfall from the day he was elected. And they have been wrong,” he said.

Some of the tension was punctured on Monday after Zardari and the prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, met the army chief, General Kayani, after which they released an anodyne statement about flood relief.

Osama bin Laden waded into the debate yesterday, criticising relief efforts in Pakistan and calling for action against climate change.

Describing the plight of Pakistanis after the floods, he said:”Millions of children are out in the open air, lacking basic elements of living, including drinking water, resulting in their bodies shedding liquids and subsequently their death.”

Zardari’s woes are complicated by the hostility he faces from the chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry. Few see it as a coincidence that the supreme court this week resurrected its efforts to have Swiss authorities prosecute Zardari on corruption charges.

Talk of a coup, however, seems unlikely. The army is still smarting from the damage to its reputation caused by the rule of General Pervez Musharraf, who is now plotting a political comeback.

And there is little appetite for unconstitutional change from British and US officials. Two senior diplomats said that, flawed as the Zardari government was, the preferred course of action was for the present government to see out its five-year term. It has so far served two and a half years.

“That’s the only way to bring long-term stability,” said one official.

Zardari’s aide said reports of army interference were exaggerated. “They have a legitimate input into national security. But to their credit the leadership have been very careful in nurturing democracy this time.”

Almeida said: “Anyone trying to change the political setup in Pakistan has to look at two things: the cost of that change, and what you will replace it with.

“Right now they can’t come up with a good answer to either of those. The cost of removing Zardari is too high.”

Babri Mosque verdict discloses real face of India

ISLAMABAD: Religious leaders on Thursday condemned the decision of the Babri Mosque case by an Indian court, saying that the verdict has disclosed the real face of India.

“We condemn this verdict. We reject this as well. This will create resentment on an international level,” said Sahibzada Fazle Karim, who is a senior member of Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP).Talking to a private news channel, he said that the Organization of International Conference (OIC) should take serious steps. .

He said that it is an international conspiracy and added that such a decision was not expected. Religious and sacred places are not safe in India.

Allama Abbas Kumaili said that the decision is unjustified. “We condemn the court’s verdict.” He said that the court is under the influence of the majority (Hindus).

“It is a diplomatic decision,” said Chairman Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman. He said that Indian Muslims should keep peace. “I appeal to Indian Muslims not to take to violence. The way of protests should be peaceful.”

He said India is a secular country and it had to respect the rights of minorities. Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman said that Muslims cannot worship where idols are placed.

And, Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi said on Thursday that the Indian Court has issued a political verdict over Babri Mosque issue and termed it “totally in favour of the Hindu community.”

Muslims in India have been deprived of their right due to the one-sided decision on the Mosque, he told Pakistan Television. Kazmi said “the court cited Babri Mosque as a birth place of Ram and recommended a little piece of place for Muslims like a donation.”

He said the decision to equally distribute the land of mosque among Muslims, Hindus and state is quite complicated which would create problems for the faithful in offering prayers.

He asked the Indian Muslims to file an appeal against the decision in the Supreme Court, urging them to make more efforts for their rights.

The Minister said,” in Pakistan we have always raised voice against any injustice with the minority communities while in India the state is not showing solidarity with the Muslims”. Kazmi asked the people from all walks of life to raise their voice against the unjust decision.

Kaira on Minorities’ Security

Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira has said that minorities have full protection under Pakistan’s constitution and the government was committed to ensure their security.

In a brief telephonic interview with a private television channel telecast Thursday the Minister said that the verdict of Indian court on Babri Mosque case would have no impact whatsoever on the minorities in Pakistan.

In Pakistan the minorities have equal rights and they are fully allowed to perform their religious rituals at their worship places he said adding it is the duty of government to protect their worship places.

Kaira said that the Indian judiciary would hopefully keep the sensitive nature of issue in mind while deciding the case on Babri Mosque.

To a question he said that security of Pakistani contingent participating in the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi is the responsibility of Indian authorities and they would hopefully ensure it.

The Verdict

An Indian court ruled Thursday that a disputed holy site in Ayodhya with a history of triggering Hindu-Muslim clashes should be divided — a judgement seen as favouring the Hindu litigants.

“All three sets of parties, i.e. Muslims, Hindus and (Hindu religious organisation) Nirmhoi Akhara are declared joint holders of the property in dispute,” Justice S.U. Khan said in a ruling on the website of the Allahabad High Court.

Several of the litigants in the case said they would appeal the judgement to the Supreme Court, meaning the already 60-year dispute will continue in India’s notoriously slow justice system.

Some 200,000 police and paramilitary forces had been deployed ahead of the court verdict to pre-empt any violent reaction.

In 1992 the demolition of a 16th-century mosque on the Ayodhya site by Hindu activists sparked riots that killed more than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, in some of the worst sectarian violence since partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947.

The process to divide the site would begin in three months, the court said. A third will go to Muslims, a second part will become a temple for Hindus, while another third will go to the Ayodhya-based Nirmhoi Akhara.

Pakistan to NATO: Apologize and pay compensation

A section of the press is reporting that NATO has apologized for the Cross-Border raid. There is no news on compensation for the three soldiers killed.

Islamabad, Oct 1: Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Friday demanded that NATO forces in Afghanistan pay compensation or apologise for recent cross-border attacks, warning that his country would otherwise explore ‘other options’ to stop such border violations.

Two helicopters entered Pakistani airspace Thursday and fired missiles at a border post manned by six soldiers, killing three of them and injuring the others.

‘If you (NATO) do not explain the incident and if you do not pay compensation or apologize, then we have other options and we will use them,’ Gilani told parliament.

‘Being a responsible nation we have conveyed our response through diplomatic and political means, but I assure the nation through this house that we will not allow any incursion into Pakistan,’ he said.

It was the third cross-border incursion by international troops this month.

Hours after the attack Pakistan stopped dozens of trucks and oil tankers carrying food and oil supplies to NATO troops in Afghanistan.

The international forces are highly dependent on Pakistan for supplies, as around 80 percent pass through Pakistan to reach landlocked Afghanistan.

Pakistan is a major ally of the US-led forces in the fight against the Taliban-led insurgency.

But analysts suspect Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency is playing a double game by allowing the militants to sneak into Afghanistan.

Western forces have long demanded to use the right of ‘hot pursuit’ against insurgents who return to Pakistani tribal areas after attacks in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has declined, saying the mandate of international troops ends at the border and only Pakistani troops can take action against militants inside its territory. Pakistani PM seeks NATO apology for intrusion 2010-10-01 18:00:00 (DPA)

• At least 27 tankers carrying fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan were destroyed at a fuel station in southern Pakistan, an official said Friday.
• It was unclear whether the attack was linked to a NATO airstrike Thursday at a border post in Khurram Agency along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in which three Pakistani troops died, the BBC said.
• Pakistan has formally lodged protest with NATO over airstrikes in its tribal region, which Thursday also killed three soldiers, officials said on Friday.
• “Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani met the Deputy Secretary General of NATO in Brussels to lodge protest over the border violations by NATO/ISAF helicopters,” Pakistani Embassy in Brussels said.
• Most people in Pakistan’s tribal regions strongly oppose U.S. missile strikes in their territory, with nearly half believing they kill mainly civilians, according to a rare opinion poll that may raise doubts about a key plank of the Obama administration’s anti-terror strategy.
• Nearly nine of 10 people surveyed opposed the U.S. taking action against militants in the tribal belt.

If NATO wants to Broaden the War Theatre does it have the body bags?

• At least 27 tankers carrying fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan were destroyed at a fuel station in southern Pakistan, an official said Friday.
• It was unclear whether the attack was linked to a NATO airstrike Thursday at a border post in Khurram Agency along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in which three Pakistani troops died, the BBC said.
• Pakistan has formally lodged protest with NATO over airstrikes in its tribal region, which Thursday also killed three soldiers, officials said on Friday.
• “Ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani met the Deputy Secretary General of NATO in Brussels to lodge protest over the border violations by NATO/ISAF helicopters,” Pakistani Embassy in Brussels said.
• Most people in Pakistan’s tribal regions strongly oppose U.S. missile strikes in their territory, with nearly half believing they kill mainly civilians, according to a rare opinion poll that may raise doubts about a key plank of the Obama administration’s anti-terror strategy.
• Nearly nine of 10 people surveyed opposed the U.S. taking action against militants in the tribal belt.

Following the unwarranted missile firing by two NATO helicopters on Pakistani army posts in Kurram agency Waziristan, the situation has taken a very ugly and ominous turn. In what they claim as hot pursuit option of the militants, the NATO air force has arrogated itself the right to target even the Pakistani soldiers fighting on Pakistani soil in what ostensibly is NATO and American war.

While this is outright an egregious provocation, it lends a new grave dimension to the anti terrorism alliance between Pakistan and America a new bizarre twist. For Pakistan, there are two choices. She should either bear with this disgrace and willingly agree to be killed and come under wanton aerial bombing by the chasing NATO bombers or retaliate in a befitting manner. Being a world class and one of the finest armies, it would be difficult for Pakistan army command to swallow this insult and affront that could be repeated time and again.

The second course would be to withdraw, the Pakistan army from the embattled frontier and tribal regions to allow the NATO troops to deal with the insurgents directly. It is important to do so because NATO and particularly America is bent upon dealing severe blows to the insurgents and Taliban no matter it amounts to grave and naked violation of the territorial integrity of a country which is rendering huge sacrifices by fighting a proxy war for the foreign occupation forces stationed in Afghanistan. It is highly improbable that if NATO cannot succeed in a limited area of Afghanistan, how it can cope with a larger terrain.

Yet it clearly demonstrates that America and NATO are embracing a new strategy in their war again the militants in which the demarcation of boundaries and sanctity of the land do not hold any prominence. By that token, it would not be naïve to speculate that if the border regions of Pakistan can be bombed and intruded either by land or by air, the remaining territory of Pakistan can also be treated as a war zone for chasing the miscreants because there is every possibility of fleeing Taliban to spread across the land of Pakistan. Thus, they can also launch their forays against the NATO forces and retreat to save havens and sanctuaries interspersed all over Pakistan.

This overly alarming development has the seeds of pitting the two allies against each other. The Pakistan army’s top brass must be emergently seized of the freakish and sinister turn of the events and the changing paradigm of fighting and the latest tactics of the NATO forces for counter-terrorism. Hopefully, Pakistan army’s command would be able to persuade the NATO commanders not to indulge in such insane violations,, highly questionable conduct and desperate maneuvers that can deal a fatal blow to the cooperation between Pakistan and NATO in combating terrorism.

While Pakistan army would be mulling over the next step and is believed to be in consultation, it is laudable that the NATO supplies have been suspended by Pakistan as retaliation to this fiasco.

If NAT O does not have the requisite intelligence that can differentiate between friends and foes and militants and the Pakistan army personnel, then this negligence assumed very intriguing dimensions. In the future too, every time the NATO bombers can cross over to Pakistan’s territory, indiscriminately shell the Pakistani soldiers, and then justify it as an act of self-defense. The logic of self-defense is tenable if Pakistan forces infiltrate all the way into the Afghan territory and attack the NATO troops. This is not self-defense and there is no precedent that you can trespass the terrain of a friendly country without giving prior information based on proper and credible intelligence.

The hamstrung government run by the spineless and titular rulers in Pakistan does not have enough courage and dignity to order shooting down the intruding aircrafts or helicopter gunships. If the invaders do not observe any rules of the game then why should Pakistan be imposed with an explanation which is downright audacious, unconvincing and an open declaration for doing such violations even for the future.

The crossing of the international borders and firing upon an outpost of the Frontier Corps located 200 meters (650 feet) inside Pakistan is either a sign of desperation or willful attempt to give the message that NATO can extend its operations to the Pakistani territory. According to a Pakistan army spokesperson, Troops present at the post manned by six soldiers “retaliated through rifle fire to indicate that the helicopters were crossing into our territory,”. “Instead of heading to the warning, helicopters went to fire two missiles, destroying the post. As a result, three FC soldiers embraced shahadat (martyrdom) and three have been injured.”

These patently provocative actions would erode whatever the support and sympathy America and her NATO allies have at the moment in the tribal regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Perhaps as a retaliation that brazen misadventure by the NATO gunships, the NATO containers were torched at Shiakpur Pakistan emanating a clear yet a portentous message that if such acts are repeated these can have their detrimental reactions in Pakistan’s mainland and perhaps elsewhere.

If United States thinks that the Pakistan’s territory should also be envisaged as the war theatre, a scenario that can prompt Pakistan to withdraw her troops from these war areas to leave the embattled terrain open to NATO and the insurgents, then it can be a good riddance by Pakistan army, fighting under duress. Or else Pakistan army can shoot down the intruding gunships, fight the land troops if these enter Pakistan’s territory and drive away or bring down drones by firing missiles at them.

This very horrendous projected situation neither suits Pakistan nor NATO and America. It would be, therefore, better if NATO leaves the military operations in the Pakistan’s territory to Pakistan army. They can continue focusing on Afghanistan as they are doing now. Pakistan indeed is a scapegoat in this so-called war against terrorism but there is a limit to find faults with such a trustworthy, competent, and brave ally as the Pakistan army is. October 1, 2010, Upright Opinion, Does NATO want to Broaden the War Theatre? By Saeed Qureshi.

(The writer is a freelance journalist and a former diplomat writing mostly on International Affairs with specific focus on Pakistan and the United States)

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• President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday said that the Government of Pakistan strongly disapproves any incident of violation of its sovereignty and any violation of internationally agreed principles was counter-productiveand unacceptable.
• The president made these remarks during a meeting with CIA Director Leon Panetta, who called on him at the Aiwan-e-Sadr on Thursday.
• Panetta also separately met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at the PM House and the General Headquarters respectively.
• Gunmen in southern Pakistan on Friday torched more than two dozen trucks and tankers carrying supplies for Nato forces in Afghanistan, police said.
• Attacks on trucks carrying goods for US and Nato-led forces are routine.