Posted on 06/15/2008 10:07:53 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan President Hamid Karzai threatened Sunday to send Afghan troops across the border to fight militants in Pakistan, a forceful warning to insurgents and the Pakistani government that his country is fed up with cross-border attacks.
Karzai said Afghanistan has the right to self defense, and because militants cross over from Pakistan "to come and kill Afghan and kill coalition troops, it exactly gives us the right to do the same."
Speaking at a Sunday news conference, Karzai warned Pakistan-based Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud that Afghan forces would target him on his home turf. Mehsud is suspected in last year's assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
"Baitullah Mehsud should know that we will go after him now and hit him in his house," Karzai said.
"And the other fellow, (Taliban leader) Mullah Omar of Pakistan should know the same," Karzai continued. "This is a two-way road in this case, and Afghans are good at the two-way road journey. We will complete the journey and we will get them and we will defeat them. We will avenge all that they have done to Afghanistan for the past so many years."
In Pakistan, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said his country is a sovereign state that wants good relations with its neighbors. But he said the Afghan-Pakistan border is too long to prevent people from crossing, "even if Pakistan puts its entire army along the border."
"Neither do we interfere in anyone else's matters, nor will we allow anyone to interfere in our territorial limits and our affairs," Gilani told The Associated Press. "We want a stable Afghanistan. It is in our interest. How can we go to destabilize our brotherly country? Such kind of statements will not be taken well by the people of both countries."
NATO's International Security Assistance Force said it was not going to comment.
Karzai has long pleaded for Pakistan and international forces to confront militants in Pakistan, but has never before said he would send Afghan troops across the border.
His comments Sunday came days after a Taliban attack on the prison in Kandahar, an assault that freed almost 900 prisoners and which Karzai said underscored the challenges the country still faces.
U.S. officials have increased their warnings in recent weeks that the Afghan conflict will drag on for years unless militant safe havens in Pakistan are taken out. Military officials say counterinsurgency campaigns are extremely difficult to win when militants have safe areas where they can train, recruit and stockpile supplies.
Karzai said in recent fighting in the Garmser district of Helmand province — where hundreds of U.S. Marines have been battling insurgents the last two months — that most of the fighters came from Pakistan.
Karzai called Pakistan a "brother government" and "friend," but also urged it to "act against those elements that are making Pakistan and Afghanistan insecure." He said it was better for Afghan troops to be killed during offensive operations into Pakistan than in militant attacks in Afghanistan.
Karzai's comments also come as Pakistan is seeking peace deals with militants in its borders, including with Mehsud.
The deals have come under criticism from U.S. officials, who warn they will simply give militants time to regroup and intensify attacks inside Afghanistan. But Pakistan insists it's not negotiating with "terrorists," rather militants willing to lay down their arms.
Of particular concern is whether the deals will address militant activity inside Afghanistan.
Mehsud, who is based mainly in the South Waziristan tribal area, has said he would continue to send fighters to battle U.S. forces in Afghanistan even as he seeks peace with Pakistan.
U.S. and NATO commanders say that following the peace agreements this spring, attacks have risen in the eastern area of Afghanistan along the border.
Karzai said an assassination attempt against him in May and the Taliban's prison attack in Kandahar on Friday are "indicative of the weaknesses that we still have."
"Therefore it's all the more reason for us to work harder and keep building Afghan institutions and intelligence and to be a lot more alert and steadfast in our resolve in confronting terrorism," he said.
I wonder if he thinks Israel has the right to go after Hezbollah and Hamas.
Wahoo! Good on Kazai
WAHOO! Last weeks little ambush on the ANA troops on the Kunar border - either by the Paki troops giving the talis a heads up or directly attacking the ANA themselves - has, it would seem, backfired.
The Pakis screamed bloody murder at the US because their air cover to save the ANA troops killed Paki military - (well known to be infiltrated with/simpatico with, the talis) turned back on them as we had video record of the whole thing - that shows we didn’t attack their outpost - but it looks like they left their outpost to attack the ANA troops - and that’s how they got killed - on video - oops.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2008/jun/12/us.bomb?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront
“Karzai said Afghanistan has the right to self defense, and because militants cross over from Pakistan “to come and kill Afghan and kill coalition troops, it exactly gives us the right to do the same.”
About damn time!
The border between the infested Paki area and Afghanistan is along Afghanistan’s Kunar Province in the isolated northeast mountains of the Hindu Kush.
Those mountains and valleys provide taliban entry in and out of the Kunar like water through a colander. The pakis let them flow into the Kunar at will to strike the ANA and our troops and then to scurry back to safety in Paki.
This has been devastating and results in our troops having to, effectively, fight the same battles with the same miscreants (actually, the Pakis and other countries there call the terrorists “miscreants” - sounds more benign, but look it up...it really fits) over and over, day after day.
The Kunar is so isolated from the rest of Afghanistan, they don’t even speak Afghani, but Pushto. Our troops up there have been in the worst fighting of the entire WOT...intense and daily. Most of them are isolated on tiny fire posts they literally pickax out of the mountain side, 2 1/2 hours of hiking with 100 lb packs, like mountain goats, away from the OPs. (no runing water or power, no showers for weeks at a time, almost daily fire-fights )- all the time, totally vulnerable to ambush and snipers.
The Korengal Valley of the Kunar is the worst - aka “Taliban Central”...The Sky Soldiers of the 173rd have been carrying the heavy load - and the heavy losses.
It’s about damn time someone starts to shut off the swinging door to/from Pakistan.
Good on Kazai! (I’m sure this was all worked out with us - and is the perfect solution. How can Pakistan argue that Afghanistan doesn’t have the right to protect it’s borders and it’s troops? If the edict came from us directly, there would be a hue and cry, not only from Pakistan but the miscreants sympathizers, aiders & abettors in DC.
This could be the most far reaching move of the entire war in Afghanistan - Dear God, let it be so.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai gestures during a press conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, June 15, 2008. Karzai has issued a forceful warning to militants in Pakistan, saying he will send Afghan troops across the border to combat Taliban insurgents. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
I wonder = hope= we can stick to the subject of this thread and take hope that our beleaguered troops in the Kunar are finally going to get the 'colander' holes plugged.
And, gosh, maybe even some attention from freepers. I've noticed that threads on our military get scant attention and few posts - especially compared to any threads on mcCain bashing (how long will it take for a basher to introduce that subject here too) or if the title contains "O.J.", Paris, Jessica Simpson or such - then the posts will run into the hundreds.
It would be nice if the few posts that our military threads DO get could stick with the thread subject. 
I agree. However, it appears that those posts are at a lower volume over the past day or so. Could it be because they are still glued to their TV watching MSNBC reruns of Matthews and Olbermann using Russert’s corpse as a soapbox?
Now, back to the subject at hand.
The use of the unmanned drones are very effective in monitoring the cross border movements and I expect their usage both for targeting and for providing video documentation will be effective in putting the Pakistan government on notice. Now that Karzai finally has a competent military (small but growing) under his control, he can be expected to extend his control.
I'd say by about post #6.
We should put Pakistan on notice that will not tolerate sanctuaries for terrorists and if they will not do anything about it or ask our help in crushing the terrorist then we will do it ourselves.
Hey, at least one president finally grew a pair.
I like Maliki too,, he has stepped up as well.
Watch'em whine....:-)
Don't talk about it, JUST DO IT!!!!!!!
Hey Freepers = Kazai gets to make the announcement because that's where it needs to come from. It's his border that's being violated - but you can bet your bippy that OUR president is hand in hand with making this decision.
Not only would Pakistan scream if WE were the ones that made the announcement, but so would half the world and MORE than half of Washington DC. That would slow things to a crawl...and more of our Troops would get hit.
With Kazai making the announcement - none can legitimately object.
And who do you think will continue to lend air cover???
Taliban fighters have taken control of eight villages in Arghandab district in Afghanistan, and have said they plan to march towards Kandahar city.
About 500 fighters are said to be involved in the ongoing Taliban offensive, which got under way on Monday, Al Jazeera has learnt.
Arghandab district lies 30km north of Kandahar city. Afghan and US-led forces in Afghanistan are said to be preparing to repulse the offensive.
Some speculation about the prison break, you gotta hand it to the Pakistani Special Forces (the alleged "rogue" units) for pulling off this prison break.
One wonders if the Afghani and Americans definitively knew the identity of all those held in the prison, there may have been a HVT there whose identity we did not know, or alternatively, knew, but aren't telling, since it'd be a black eye if aforesaid HVT did escape. But, the US would have probably moved HVT to Bagram if aware of his identity.
“Not only would Pakistan scream if WE were the ones that made the announcement, but so would half the world and MORE than half of Washington DC.”
Like I said.... at least one President finally grew a pair.
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