Apocalypse Now? Expansion of Afghan War into Pakistan

In the first openly acknowledged ground forces raid on Pakistan soil, heli-borne American Special Operations forces attacked what was termed as “Qaeda militants” in the Pakistani village of Angoor Adda (lit. “Grapes Depot”) near the border with Afghanistan Wednesday.

According to the New York Times, until now allied forces in Afghanistan have carried out air strikes and artillery attacks in the border region of Pakistan against militants, with some latitude to chase them across the border.

But the commando raid by the American forces is akin to raising the level of hostilities beyond a new and dangerous threshold. NATO seems to be upping the ante and strongly reinforcing the message that the militants cannot count on being safe in any sanctuary in Pakistan. If they do not stop attacks against the NATO forces and the Afghan government, new and more damaging attacks are coming, is the clear message.

One wonders what purpose other than a warning is the American raid supposed to convey. If the purpose was to kill Al Qaeda operatives, why were so many women and children killed? The governor of North-West Frontier Province, Owais Ahmed Ghani, said that the helicopter attack occurred about 3 a.m. and killed 20 people. Local residents said most of the dead were women and children. American officials suggested some of the women were helping the men. Were these women shooting at the raiders or simply trying to nurse the wounded? More likely the latter.

The timing of the raid, coinciding with the Republican National Convention, is significant. The Republicans, as is well known, have been on the defensive after Barack Obama’s stunning acceptance speech. They badly need some good news from the faltering war front in Afghanistan. If the Bush administration could only bag a big fish like Ayman Zawahiri or better still Osama bin Laden before the November Presidential election, the McCain-Palin team might get a much needed boost to prevail against the Democratic ticket.

In a telephone interview, Pakistani military spokesman General Abbas said there was now a big risk of an uprising by the tribesmen who supported the Pakistani soldiers in the border area. “Such actions are completely counterproductive and can result in huge losses, because it gives the civilians a cause to rise against the Pakistani military,” he said.

The General is right. The Pashtun tribesmen have the memory of elephants. Under normal circumstances they never venture out of their domain to bother other folk. But someone attacks them and kills their loved ones they are honor bound to wreak vengeance. Even to the extent of blowing themselves up, which has proved to be a cost effective way of fighting better armed security forces in Iraq, Pakistan or Afghanistan.