generalspeaking

Pakistani Fury

The Government of Pakistan is furious. Again. With the United States. With NATO. The U.S. is in one of those proverbial hard places. A hard enough place that although it knows full well that Pakistan has always supported the Afghan Taliban - given them haven, weapons, military support despite that the country is a purported ally to the West and the U.S. fighting terrorism - it doles out $1.2-billion annually of U.S. treasury to the Pakistan military.

Pakistan has officially assured the United States, for the past ten years and more, that they are fighting in the same camp, for their mutual interests. They've taken U.S. funding, primarily used for the military, even while the military is diverting some of those funds for arms to supply to the Taliban, materially and logistically supporting them, enabling them to mount their attacks in Afghanistan.

It was, in fact, Taliban rockets targeting Afghan soldiers that resulted in the NATO response that hit two military outposts in northwest Pakistan, killing 28 troops. The alerted NATO helicopters and fighter jets simply tracked the rocket trajectory and struck the source there, in response. That they happened to hit Pakistan military outposts across the border is hardly an accident. It was a legitimate response.

"Close air support was called in, in the development of the tactical situation, and it is what highly likely caused the Pakistan casualties", General Carsten Jacobson explained on behalf of the International Security Assistance Force. "We are aware that Pakistani soldiers perished. We don't know the size, the magnitude."

Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani called it "an attack on Pakistan's sovereignty". Pakistan is very sensitive about its sovereignty. The Foreign Office plans to take up the matter "in the strongest terms" with its allies in NATO and the United States. The Pakistani army chief promises that steps are in the offing in response "to this irresponsible act".

"Pakistani troops effectively responded immediately in self-defence to NATO/ISAF's aggression with all available weapons." So there. Sad it couldn't be left there. To allow Pakistan to stew in the juices of its righteous indignation, a trusting helpmeet in the battle against terror, once again betrayed by the perfidy of the West.

As far as they're concerned - so they bruit about for public consumption to a public furiously beset by hatred of the West and its corrupt values - this was a deliberate attack on innocent Pakistani soldiers. Despite that maps of the area clearly marking out wherever military posts are located. So the first area of disrupted cooperation to be the stoppage of the transit of NATO supplies.

NATO will have to resort to alternate supply routes. Which it most certainly will do. As inconvenient as it may be. And Pakistan will stew itself into greater paroxysms of fury.

Labels: Communication, NATO, Pakistan, Political Realities, United States

posted by Pieface @ Sunday, November 27, 2011