The Bush Administration has led me to stock up on tinfoil hats over the past eight years, and I’m aware of that, so understand that I don’t want to suggest that this cross-border raid into Pakistan might have been timed to coincide with something going on this week. Of course, it didn’t go well, so you won’t hear much about it:
At least 15 people, including women and children, were killed in an attack involving U.S.-led forces in a remote Pakistani village near the border with Afghanistan, intelligence officials and a witness said Wednesday.
The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan said it had no report of such an incursion, said to have happened in the militant-infested South Waziristan tribal region. Pakistan’s army confirmed an attack but did not specify if it believed foreign troops were involved.
The U.S. and Pakistan, allies in the war on terror, have had tensions over cross-border attacks, including suspected American missile strikes in Pakistani territory. In one high-profile incident earlier this year, Pakistan said 11 of its soldiers died when U.S. aircraft bombed their border post.
Habib Khan Wazir, an area resident, said the latest incident happened before dawn, shortly after an American helicopter landed in the village of Musa Nikow in South Waziristan.
He said as the owner of a home nearby came outside with his wife, the “American and Afghan soldiers starting firing.”
Khan said later the troops entered the house and killed seven other people, including women and children. He said the troops also killed six other residents.
Two local intelligence officials confirmed the account on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media. One official said 19 people died.
Now, the U.S. is claiming not to know anything about this right now, and I’m sure it will all fade away quickly — because we don’t like to talk about these things we do in the name of freedom and liberty. And I certainly hope that my sneaking suspicion that we launched this hoping to kill one of the 3,429 number-two guys in al Qaeda is wrong. But if I’ve learned one thing in the last seven-and-a-half years, it’s that when in doubt, assume the worst of the Bush Administration, and you’ll be halfway to how bad it actually is.
