Thank The NYT If Terrorists Strike From Pakistan

The situation in Pakistan was bad enough prior to the New York Times revealing that the Bush Administration apparently approved secret missions to go after Taliban and al Qaeda operating in Pakistan's lawless border regions including Warizistan and the NWFP.

That report meant that the Pakistani government had even less room in which to operate and claim plausible deniability over the airstrikes and missions that have taken out countless terrorists. Now, the Pakistanis have to look like they're protecting Pakistani territory from the US. Thus, we get reports such as this:

Firing by Pakistani troops forced two U.S. military helicopters to turn back to Afghanistan after they crossed into Pakistani territory early on Monday, Pakistani security officials said.

The incident took place near Angor Adda, a village in the tribal region of South Waziristan where U.S. commandos in helicopters raided a suspected al Qaeda and Taliban camp earlier this month.

"The U.S. choppers came into Pakistan by just 100 to 150 meters at Angor Adda. Even then our troops did not spare them, opened fire on them and they turned away," said one security official.

The U.S. and Pakistani military both denied that account, but Angor Adda villagers and officials supported it.

Pakistan is a crucial U.S. ally in its war on terrorism, and its support is key to the success of Western forces trying to stabilize Afghanistan. But Washington has become impatient over Islamabad's response to the threat from al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in Pakistan's tribal regions on the border.

The situation is such that you've got the Pakistani high commissioner to the UK claiming that the situation may increase the likelihood of terror attacks in the UK. Take that as a not so subtle threat that if the UK and other countries don't pressure the US into stopping attacks on the terrorists in Pakistan's lawless border regions, terrorists (freelancers or affiliated with al Qaeda) may launch further attacks against the UK.

The US plans on continuing operations deep inside areas populated by Taliban elements in Afghanistan, but the US commander noted that if the militants escape into Pakistan, a new kind of war could erupt. The fact is that the Taliban have been using the border as a get out of bombing range card. It's well past time that the card was revoked, and the Pakistani government is struggling to come up with some kind of response that satisfied both the Islamist elements and those who see the threat that the Taliban and al Qaeda represent.

As anyone who has been following the situation in Pakistan could attest, it simply isn't possible to do both at the same time - you get a crackdown followed by appeasement - a cycle of violence that will not end because the Taliban and al Qaeda take advantage of the situation at every turn.