The US military’s plans reportedly include limited cross-border artillery bombardments, aerial missile attacks, and/or ground incursions by CIA paramilitary squads or US army special operations forces. Only fears about the resulting anti-US and anti-Western backlash in Pakistan — and its impact on its fragile coalition government — appear to be staying Washington’s hand.
They may not hold off much longer, as the Afghan war escalates, al-Qaeda regenerates and a legacy-minded US president retreats toward the exit, still trophy-hunting for bin Laden and with all guns blazing. For the grudge-settlers and political point-scorers of Islamabad, the hard stuff is about to start.
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