Expanding Afghanistan

In an article released yesterday and still in today’s issue, the New York Times says that the United States has plans to utilize American ground forces to make raids into Pakistan from Afghanistan, apparently on a fairly regular basis, and that they’ve “…never been as close as we are now to getting the go-ahead to go across.” The plan is a response our “growing frustration with Pakistan’s efforts to root out militants” in the north of that country, apparently reflecting our intention to do ourselves what they are either unwilling or unable to do.

The article goes on to say that CIA-trained Afghan forces have been raiding into Pakistan with some regularity, and admits that the two times that American forces did so it caused major Pakistani outrage. Why there is any thought that future American force incursions would not result in similar outrage is not explained.

Interestingly, this morning the LA Times is carrying a denial from NATO that the United States has any such plans. The article does not say that NATO knows of no such plans, it says there are none. Pakistan also denies knowledge of any such plans. It would appear, therefor, that we are contemplating this action without consulting any of the other nations, supposed allies, which would be affected by it. Incredible.

It is difficult to express just how much I dislike the prospect of this nation widening the conflict in such a manner. My reaction, at this point, is too extreme to even attempt to discuss it.