CIA increases Hellfire attacks in Pakistan
Image via WikipediaThe C.I.A. has drastically increased its bombing campaign in the mountains of Pakistan in recent weeks, American officials said. The strikes are part of an effort by military and intelligence operatives to try to cripple the Taliban in a stronghold being used to plan attacks against American troops in Afghanistan.While there is some concern about anger in the Muslim world about the strikes, those made angry tend to have an irrational belief that you should not fight back against or resist Muslim aggressors.
As part of its covert war in the region, the C.I.A. has launched 20 attacks with armed drone aircraft thus far in September, the most ever during a single month, and more than twice the number in a typical month. This expanded air campaign comes as top officials are racing to stem the rise of American casualties before the Obama administration’s comprehensive review of its Afghanistan strategy set for December. American and European officials are also evaluating reports of possible terrorist plots in the West from militants based in Pakistan.
The strikes also reflect mounting frustration both in Afghanistan and the United States that Pakistan’s government has not been aggressive enough in dislodging militants from their bases in the country’s western mountains. In particular, the officials said, the Americans believe the Pakistanis are unlikely to launch military operations inside North Waziristan, a haven for Taliban and Qaeda operatives that has long been used as a base for attacks against troops in Afghanistan.
Beyond the C.I.A. drone strikes, the war in the region is escalating in other ways. In recent days, American military helicopters have launched three airstrikes into Pakistan that military officials estimate killed more than 50 people suspected of being members of the militant group known as the Haqqani network, which is responsible for a spate of deadly attacks against American troops.
...
As evidence of the growing frustration of American officials, Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top American commander in Afghanistan, has recently issued veiled warnings to top Pakistani commanders that the United States could launch unilateral ground operations in the tribal areas should Pakistan refuse to dismantle the militant networks in North Waziristan, according to American officials.
...
Special Operations commanders have also been updating plans for cross-border raids, which would require approval from President Obama. For now, officials said, it remains unlikely that the United States would make good on such threats to send American troops over the border, given the potential blowback inside Pakistan, an ally.
But that could change, they said, if Pakistan-based militants were successful in carrying out a terrorist attack on American soil....
...
The senior administration official said the strikes were intended not only to attack Taliban and Haqqani fighters, but also to disrupt any plots directed from or supported by extremists in Pakistan’s tribal areas that were aimed at targets in Europe. “The goal is to suppress or disrupt that activity,” the official said.
...
The operational temp against the Haqqanis and other militant groups comes as these groups are sending more fighters into Afghanistan to bolster Taliban resistance to the US surge of troops into the area. There have been reports that as many as a third of Taliban units are now made up of "foreign fighters" and there are some whole units of Pakistan militants in the area.
While the Hellfire strikes are disruptive to the Taliban and al Qaeda they are unlikely to stop this flow into Afghanistan. However we have killed as many as 70 or more fighters attempting to infiltrate into Afghanistan in recent days. That requires planes with bigger payloads than the drones.
It could be argued that the surge is drawing enemy forces into Afghanistan where they can be destroyed instead of allowing them to loiter in Pakistan. The CIA attacks are also making loitering in Pakistan an uncomfortable proposition.
Comments
Post a Comment