The Washington Post has urged the United States government to militarily strike Pakistan’s tribal agency areas since the Pakistani government has been “unable to flush out terrorist groups from their sanctuaries”.
The shock editorial, advocating the unilateral bombing of a sovereign state which is a close Washington ally, proves, according to a political observer who wanted to remain unnamed, that when it comes to perceived US security interests in the world, “no holds are barred and no principles of international law apply.”
The lead editorial said, “If Pakistani forces cannot – or will not – eliminate the sanctuary, President Bush must order targeted strikes or covert actions by American forces, as he has done several times in recent years. Such actions run the risk of further destabilising Pakistan. Yet those risks must be weighed against the consequences of another large-scale attack on the US soil. ‘Direct intervention against the sanctuary in Afghanistan apparently must have seemed . . . disproportionate to the threat,’ the Sept 11 commission noted. The United States must not repeat that tragic misjudgment.” |