Line of no control

The word “ally” is in danger of becoming another of those words in the English language that have been bent out of shape by modern politics. When word emerged from Washington of the Bush administration’s decision to permit its special operations teams to operate inside Pakistan’s troubled tribal areas — without the prior approval of the Pakistani Government — reactions ranged from the approving to the outraged; but the most percipient of those recognised that real allies don’t do that to each other. Notwithstanding American claims that the Pakistanis had agreed to the “general concept” and Pakistani claims that they had thought the idea was “still under discussion”, it seems clear that something has fractured in that relationship: the Durand Line is not the only line that has been crossed.

America’s frustration is understandable, especially to those in India who have known for years that Pakistan’s margins encompass well-equipped training camps from which militants feed insurgencies in neighbouring countries. That such attacks go well beyond “hot pursuit”, which American forces were doing anyway, is clear. Nevertheless, it is difficult to see how else to pacify Afghanistan: there is no doubt now that much of the insurgency in Afghanistan is fuelled from secure bases in the tribal areas; no counterinsurgency action in history has been successful without a sealed border; and the Pakistan army has shown itself unwilling to extend the rule of law all the way to its own frontier. Indeed, it appears that the army chief, General Kayani, was aware of what elements under his command planned to do to the Indian embassy in Kabul. Thus the raids are, after all, aimed at doing little more than what the Pakistan army was supposed to, and has not.

However, the timing is problematic: for America to step up its attacks when a civilian president generally seen as pro-American has just assumed office seems odd. It gives the army an excuse to further separate itself from civilian control and impede the “civilianising” process further — already Kayani has forced the PPP’s hand by taking a hawkish stand on American action and a Pakistani official told The New York Times that the raids are “stupid” in that they are based on outdated information. Hopefully, the Pentagon has been careful evaluating the risk of military action, and has taken into account fractures in the local leadership and the possibility of faulty intelligence.

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Website suggestions... by Niraj on 2008-09-14 20:47:12.640266+05:30
Hi Editors,I have one suggestion for new look of your website. Please remove the adds in between the articles. Hope you pay attention to this. Please focus on readers if you want to make your site popular rather than ad revenues.Regards,

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Line of no control by bichu muttathara on 2008-09-13 23:14:53.059926+05:30
The US decision for operation of forces into the territory of Pakistan will be welcomed by those who love peace, though the the decision as such appears to be a case of transgression into territorial integrity of another nation. Pakistan stands badly forfeited its own moral right to ward off any criticism against the Us by encouraging insurgencies in the neighbouring countries and acting as a hub of pan-Islamic terrorism. Moreover, till yesterday, Pak was a direct beneficiary of the US' War-against-terror. The US administrations were artfully using Pakistan as a counter-balance against India as well as a symbol of secularism to prove its credentials to the Arab world. Now, the US administration seems to be convinced that Pakistan was running with the hare and hunting with the hound in its hot pursuit against Islamic terror - which incidentally poses a critical threat to the peace and stability in many parts of the world. Pakistan therefore does not deserve any sympathy of the world.

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Pakistan was never an ally by Dev Kumar Dutta on 2008-09-13 20:17:00.883461+05:30
Long back an American president said about the erstwhile dictator of Nicaragua, Somoza, that "He maybe a son-of-a-bitch but he's our son-of-a-bitch". Nicaragua in those days was supposed to be a US "ally" just as Pakistan has been all these years. You guys are reading too much into this ally business. In the end it's what the great Chanakya had said - "There are no permanent friends in politics, just permanent interests".

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Drummer in Denial by Sahakar Gupta on 2008-09-13 19:17:43.522812+05:30
What does our Drummer have to say about US Fed bailing out the mortgage giants? That we should not draw any lessons whatsoever? That shameless greed continues to be the answer to all problems facing us? That he has "data to prove it"?

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Durand Line by Mulayam on 2008-09-13 13:47:24.952599+05:30
"The word “ally” is in danger of becoming another of those words in the English language that have been bent out of shape by modern politics", like "Secularism" in India ? Durand Line is not actual border of Pakistan and Afghanistan, NWF belongs to Afghanistan. US has not violated Pakistan border.

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Line of no control by Vaid S C K on 2008-09-13 10:20:12.764581+05:30
This is another case of US Intelligence failure in regard to unfolding hidden agenda of ISI in Pakistan. It is a pity that some senior leaders in US Congress are also to be blamed for not understaning caste based politics of this sub continent where Pak has always taken lead in spreading hatred among communities.

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