Former Nato officer reveals secret night operations in border region which America kept quiet
American special forces have conducted multiple clandestine raids into Pakistan's tribal areas as part of a secret war in the border region where Washington is pressing to expand its drone assassination programme.
A former Nato officer said the incursions, only one of which has been previously reported, occurred between 2003 and 2008, involved helicopter-borne elite soldiers stealing across the border at night, and were never declared to the Pakistani government.
"The Pakistanis were kept entirely in the dark about it. It was one of those things we wouldn't confirm officially with them," said the source, who had detailed knowledge of the operations.
This seems to remind one of another secret war: Perhaps the one conducted in Cambodia by the Nixon administration.
After the only publicly acknowledged special forces raid in September 2008, Pakistan's foreign office condemned it as "a grave provocation" while the military threatened retaliatory action.
Pakistan's citizens barely tolerate the use of U.S Drones against Taliban and Al Qaeda in the Northwest Frontier Provence. More important is the fragility of Pakistan's current government. Would Pakistan's military step-in and remove Asif Zardari from office thus returning the to a military dictatorship? Given Asif Zardari's current legal problems based on corruption charges from his past business and political dealings.
The C.I.A's Drone program which is run out of Baluchistan which boarders both Iran and Afghanistan has become a focal point in the war as the Obama administration believes attacks into Afghanistan are originating from there. Given that provinces complete lack of trust of the government in Islamabad this area could quickly become an unintended conflict zone.
With all that in mind any of these policies could lead to the complete destabilization of the entire region.
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