U.S. Military Deaths in Pakistan Should Surprise Nobody

Christina Lamb, writing for The Sunday Times of London, today, expressed her surprise that three American soldiers were among the dead in a suicide bombing in a Pakistan town, saying that this would reignite the fears of many Pakistanis that Washington was set on invading their country.

Barack Obama has banned the Bush-era term “war on terror” and dithered about sending extra troops to Afghanistan, but across the border in Pakistan, the US president has dramatically stepped up the covert war against Islamic extremists.

US airstrikes in Pakistan, launched from unmanned drones, are now averaging three a week, triple the number last year. “We're quietly seeing a geographical shift,” an intelligence officer said.

For the past month drones have pounded the tribal region of North Waziristan in apparent retaliation for the murder of seven CIA officers in Afghanistan by a Jordanian suicide bomber working with the Pakistani Taliban.

The discovery of the dead US soldiers revealed that America’s shadowy war in Pakistan not only involves drones but also small cadres of special operations soldiers.

But why should anyone be surprised? Obama promised during his campaign that he would target Pakistan in his administration's fight against the Taliban.


The story is getting some extensive play through a link on Drudge. But anyone following the campaign and this presidency would never have been caught off guard by this revelation.

Reports: U.S. Strike in Pakistan Kills 50 Taliban Militants at Funeral Procession

At least 50 people have been killed and scores others injured after U.S. drones fired several missiles on what Washington calls insurgents' targets in the troubled northwest Pakistan, accroding to PressTV, a news network funded by the Iranian government that broadcasts in English.

Western media, including the BBC, have identified the dead as Taliban militants.

The causalities occurred when three drones fired missiles on Tuesday afternoon at the funeral procession in the South Waziristan bordering Afghanistan, according to the Iranian report. The missiles hit the funeral of people who were killed earlier in the day during a similar strike in the volatile region, the report said.

At least eight people were killed and a dozen other injured in the first U.S. strike by an unmanned drone aircraft hit near Makeen village, 60 kilometres (37 miles) northeast of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan, the report said.

The Khaleej Times, an English language daily newspaper published from Dubai, United Arab Emirates,
has this report:

The attacks came hours after a militant leader who had defected from Pakistani Taliban head Baitullah Mehsud was assassinated by an “infiltrator” in the adjoining district of North Western Frontier Province.

A pilotless aircraft on Tuesday morning fired three missiles to target a hideout used regularly by Mehsud’s fighter in South Waziristan, a security official said on condition of anonymity.

“The missiles hit a Taliban markaz (centre) in the Makeen (area), killing at least seven Taliban,” the official said. Four more militants were injured and two vehicles were destroyed by the strike.

Later, as Taliban members were attending the funeral of their dead comrades, another suspected US drone fired four guided missiles at them.

“Our local sources are saying that 45 people have died and more than 60 are injured,” said the official.

“Almost all of those killed and injured are Taliban and a senior commander of Mehsud’s, Sangeen Khan is confirmed dead, while there are reports that Mehsud’s deputy, Qari Hussain, might also have died.

It seems that Taliban have suffered huge losses, its a major setback for them, he added.

Another intelligence official put the death toll at 50 and claimed that Taliban chief Mehsud himself was attending the funeral. “We are trying to confirm whether he died in the strike or managed to survive it.”

The first drone strike came around two and half hours after Taliban commander, Qari Zainuddin, who had defected Mehsud was shot dead in his compound in the town of Dera Ismail Khan, located adjacent to South Waziristan.

Large Truck Bomb Kills at Least 40 at Marriott in Pakistan

A five-star Marriott Hotel in Islamabad was attacked by a large truck bomb Saturday evening, killing at least 40 people. The hotel is located a short distance from the residence of the prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, who was hosting many government leaders for dinner. Authorities said that 100 people are wounded and they expect the death toll to rise.

Carlotta Gall of The New York Times reports from the scene in Pakistan:

Witnesses said they dragged out dozens of bodies from the lobby of the hotel and an adjacent parking lot, including those of a number of foreigners.

One wounded American who works at the embassy here in the capital said he had just opened his car door in the parking lot when the explosion erupted. The American, who gave only his first name, Chris, said he had received injuries to his face, neck and shoulder, and was holding a bloody T-shirt to his face.

He said American Embassy personnel were at the scene, trying to help American citizens they said were trapped in the hotel.

Amjad Ali Khan, a guard on duty at a side entrance to the hotel, said he saw four to five bodies in the hotel parking lot and that he helped carry out 40 bodies from inside the hotel. He said they were “in the lobby and in the restaurant and everywhere.”

“There were very few people injured,” he said. “They were all dead.” He said he saw three Western women who had died from head wounds.

“They are terrorists,” he said when asked who he thought was responsible for the blast. “They threatened a few days ago. We heard there were four to five suicide bombers on the loose.”