Most Dangerous Trouble Spot In The World Update

Digby wrote about this earlier today, and I don't know what to make of it. I have no faith that the Bush Administration will be able to pull this off, not to mention it being yet another invasion of a sovereign country.

A deadly American-led raid on a Pakistani village embarrassed the government and eroded support for the pro-U.S. presidential front-runner Thursday just two days before the election.

Furor continued to mount over the first known foreign ground assault inside Pakistan against a suspected Taliban haven. The government summoned the U.S. ambassador for an official protest, while Parliament passed resolutions of condemnation.

In news likely to stoke more anger, intelligence officials said a missile strike was suspected in a blast Thursday that killed at least four people in North Waziristan, part of the tribal belt where Osama bin Laden and his deputy are thought to be hiding. Previous such strikes have been blamed on the U.S.

The ground assault, with troops helicoptered in, occurred in adjacent South Waziristan early Wednesday. Officials said at least 15 people died, including women and children. The Foreign Ministry said no militant leaders were killed and there was no sign the attackers detained anyone.

We can't stop killing women and children, can we?

Look, it's clear that the Pakistani government isn't willing or able to stop extremist forces operating inside their own country, no matter how much they say otherwise. The problem is how best to handle that, or how to pressure the Pakistanis to do it themselves, rather. Ground incursions by US forces can be very counterproductive at this sensitive time. If we have actionable intelligence, that's one thing. But I've seen what's passed for "intelligence" these last eight years. Which makes me more than a little frightened that the same crowd is tutoring Sarah Palin in foreign policy.

On a side note, if John McCain has a secret plan to capture Osama bin Laden, wouldn't it be a little bit treasonous not to tell the President about it?

(yes, I know, the point is he has no such plan)