WHERE THE WAR ENDS:

Pakistan: After the hammer, now the screws (Syed Saleem Shahzad , 5/19/04, Asia Times)

[N]ow there is plan B, in terms of which the US military, like the tribals, will treat the artificially created Durand Line that separates Afghanistan and Pakistan more as an inconvenience than as a legal barrier. At the same time, the Pakistan army is reported to be mobilizing for another military excursion into the tribal areas. And it, too, will cross the border as it sees fit.

On Monday, according to tribal sources who spoke to Asia Times Online, US forces intruded into North Waziristan, resulting in the death of two tribals in a skirmish.

Prior to this, there have been reports of US forces crossing over to villages in the Datakhail area, and a tribal chief by the name of Malik Noor Khan was arrested in the Bacha Mela area (North Waziristan) . He is being interrogated in connection with the whereabouts of Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani - a former Taliban minister and now a key resistance figure - and other foreign fighters. According to sources in North Waziristan, Pakistani Army and paramilitary forces turned a blind eye to the US patrols, which returned to Afghanistan of their own accord.

The Pentagon has acknowledged that it will engage in "hot pursuit" raids across the border, but Pakistani authorities, sensitive to local concerns, have routinely denied that they have given approval for such incursions. They have even gone so far as to lodge official complaints when cross-border raids have taken place.

When America is on the march there's no such thing as national sovereignty even for "allies".

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 18, 2004 10:46 AM