NATO admits it bombed Pakistan and killed 24+ Pakistani soldiers

[Stardust]

The BBC reports:

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[minionofmidas]

I demand immediate nuclear retaliation. Teach those NATO bastards a lesson.

[GMantis]

But of course the Pakistanis don't hate the US because of cases like, it's because they hate freedom

[dead0man]

They hated us a long time before this.....and at this point does anybody really care?  The PRC can have these schizophrenic asshats.

[patrick1]

One would think that there is gun camera or cockpit footage that exists and has already been gone over, no?  From my amateur opinion, Id think that some people were really playing loose with the rules of engagement and/or they were taking fire from a position very close to the the checkpoint and screwed up.

[phk]

One would think that there is gun camera or cockpit footage that exists and has already been gone over, no?  From my amateur opinion, Id think that some people were really playing loose with the rules of engagement and/or they were taking fire from a position very close to the the checkpoint and screwed up.

[© tweed]

good idea

[CLARENCE 2015!]

Well sh**t boys, here comes WWIII

[dead0man]

One would think that there is gun camera or cockpit footage that exists and has already been gone over, no?  From my amateur opinion, Id think that some people were really playing loose with the rules of engagement and/or they were taking fire from a position very close to the the checkpoint and screwed up.

Very very close.  link

[dead0man]

And the Pakistan military approved the strike.  link

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[Simfan34]

And the Pakistan military approved the strike.  link

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Um... okay. Gross negligence on the Pakistanis' part. Don't tell someone your forces aren't there when they are; if one sees a bunch of soldiers where no allied soldiers are supposed to be, one could logically conclude they are the enemy.

[Frodo]

At this point, I don't care if an entire Pakistani city is obliterated -the whole of Pakistan is our enemy. 

[Simfan34]

At this point, I don't care if an entire Pakistani city is obliterated -the whole of Pakistan is our enemy. 

Let's destroy their nukes first- then they can go to hell.

[Insula Dei]

At this point, I don't care if an entire Pakistani city is obliterated -the whole of Pakistan is our enemy. 

Let's destroy their nukes first- then they can go to hell.

I am lost for words.

[dead0man]

You think they should go to hell with their nukes?  That's probably better.

[Simfan34]

At this point, I don't care if an entire Pakistani city is obliterated -the whole of Pakistan is our enemy. 

Let's destroy their nukes first- then they can go to hell.

I am lost for words.

What does Pakistan do? What do they contribute? I'm not seriously advocating the destruction of Pakistan or the slaughter of civilians, but the fact that we'd be better off if they were irrelevant- and they will be relevant as long as they have nuclear weapons.

[Frodo]

Clearly that comment was over the top (for which I do apologize), but I stand with my utter lack of sympathy for Pakistan's loss.  The same nation that harbored Osama bin Ladin not ten miles from Islamabad in a plush compound practically across the street from its military academy, and bitches at the United States for having crossed the border to kill him has no standing for anyone's sympathy.  They are more an enemy than ally -does anyone here seriously disagree? 

[Simfan34]

Clearly that comment was over the top (for which I do apologize), but I stand with my utter lack of sympathy for Pakistan's loss.  The same nation that harbored Osama bin Ladin not ten miles from Islamabad in a plush compound practically across the street from its military academy, and bitches at the United States for having crossed the border to kill him has no standing for anyone's sympathy.

And then arrests the people who helped the US find them. I absolutely agree.

[CLARENCE 2015!]

At this point, I don't care if an entire Pakistani city is obliterated -the whole of Pakistan is our enemy. 

Let's destroy their nukes first- then they can go to hell.

Amen to that

[seanobr]

The fundamental problem is not Pakistan, its policy toward Afghanistan and India, its possession of nuclear weaponry, or the fragility of its civilian government.  Rather, it is America's inability to reconcile itself to the fact that our vision for Afghanistan is divergent from and incompatible with the one Pakistan is pursuing; that no amount of persuasion, inducement, or compulsion, including the use of force, will dissuade Pakistan from its present course; and that Pakistan's conception of its self-interest will not change simply because we want it to experience the moral satisfaction of contributing to a sustainable and democratic Afghanistan.  Pakistan has very adroitly made itself indispensable to the outcome in Afghanistan, and if we intend for our withdrawal to occur through a negotiated settlement that can preserve some of what we've created in Afghanistan, we have no choice but to respect Pakistan's position and the influence it has accumulated for itself by enabling the insurgency.  In the absence of a reconciliation agreement, we are left with assuming a prolonged, intensive, and unconditional material commitment to Afghanistan's security, limiting the nature of our mission inside the country, or allowing the state to collapse, since I have no confidence in the government's ability to survive after our departure without some type of mechanism in place.  Even if an accommodation can be reached, Afghanistan's return to conflict is probably inevitable, but it would allow us to retain a certain amount of dignity before the futility of our effort there is revealed for all to see.

The only opportunity for a desirable result in Afghanistan will require Pakistan's cooperation, no matter how unsympathetic or deplorable the country may be.  Denying that reality will not change it, and the infantile rhetoric that discussing Pakistan here has a tendency to produce -- the juvenile lambasting of it is evidently a ritual -- is not a substitute for actual policy.