Friday, August 24, 2007
Laos, Cambodia and Pakistan
Back from the Spirit World. I feel better, but the world is just as fuckedup as ever. This caught my attention this morning: the U.S. has invaded Pakistan, at least on occasional jaunts. If anyone doubts that the neo-cons are ignorant of history, after Bush’s fumbling-bumbling referencing of VietNam, Japan and Germany, this should erase all questions.
Remember Laos? Cambodia? The U.S. invaded those countries, too—no declaration of war, no publicity, just millions and millions of pounds of bombs and millions of dead and maimed. We remember those two countries, but Bush and Cheney, busy avoiding the draft at the time, apparently have holes in their brains...and in their souls.
It’s time to impeach the president and vice-president—and then try them for crimes against humanity, as I’ve said.
U.S. OK'd Troop Terror Hunts in Pakistan
SCOTT LINDLAW | August 23, 2007 08:41 PM EST | AP
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070823/crossing-into-pakistan/
— Newly uncovered "rules of engagement" show the U.S. military gave elite units broad authority more than three years ago to pursue suspected terrorists into Pakistan, with no mention of telling the Pakistanis in advance.
The documents obtained by The Associated Press offer a detailed glimpse at what Army Rangers and other terrorist-hunting units were authorized to do earlier in the war on terror. And interviews with military officials suggest some of those same guidelines have remained in place, such as the right to "hot pursuit" across the border.
Pakistan, a key U.S. partner in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, has long viewed such incursions as a threat to its sovereignty. Islamabad protested loudly this month when Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama pledged to grant U.S. forces the authority to unilaterally penetrate Pakistan in the hunt for terrorist leaders.
Washington repeated assurances it would consult before any such incursions.
But summaries of the rules of engagement on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in April 2004 say chasing al-Qaida leaders across the frontier was fair game.
***
Scott Lindlaw reported from San Francisco; Associated Press writers Jason Straziuso in Kabul, Afghanistan and Munir Ahmad in Islamabad, Pakistan contributed to this report.
Remember Laos? Cambodia? The U.S. invaded those countries, too—no declaration of war, no publicity, just millions and millions of pounds of bombs and millions of dead and maimed. We remember those two countries, but Bush and Cheney, busy avoiding the draft at the time, apparently have holes in their brains...and in their souls.
It’s time to impeach the president and vice-president—and then try them for crimes against humanity, as I’ve said.
U.S. OK'd Troop Terror Hunts in Pakistan
SCOTT LINDLAW | August 23, 2007 08:41 PM EST | AP
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070823/crossing-into-pakistan/
— Newly uncovered "rules of engagement" show the U.S. military gave elite units broad authority more than three years ago to pursue suspected terrorists into Pakistan, with no mention of telling the Pakistanis in advance.
The documents obtained by The Associated Press offer a detailed glimpse at what Army Rangers and other terrorist-hunting units were authorized to do earlier in the war on terror. And interviews with military officials suggest some of those same guidelines have remained in place, such as the right to "hot pursuit" across the border.
Pakistan, a key U.S. partner in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, has long viewed such incursions as a threat to its sovereignty. Islamabad protested loudly this month when Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama pledged to grant U.S. forces the authority to unilaterally penetrate Pakistan in the hunt for terrorist leaders.
Washington repeated assurances it would consult before any such incursions.
But summaries of the rules of engagement on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in April 2004 say chasing al-Qaida leaders across the frontier was fair game.
***
Scott Lindlaw reported from San Francisco; Associated Press writers Jason Straziuso in Kabul, Afghanistan and Munir Ahmad in Islamabad, Pakistan contributed to this report.
