Turkey to play role in stopping US attacks in Pakistan.

This is from thenews.jang.
It is not clear that Turkey will be able to stop any US attacks by virtue of complaining about them in NATO. The US tells NATO what to do not vice-versa. However, no doubt other NATO countries as well may join in with Turkey. The UK has also condemned the attacks.


Turkey to play role in stopping US attacks

Sunday, November 02, 2008 By Rauf KlasraISLAMABAD: Turkey becomes the first country to assure Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in clear words that Istanbul will play a major role in stopping the US from attacking the Pakistani tribal areas.As a follow-up to this assurance from an important member of the Nato force operating in Afghanistan, COAS Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is being rushed to Turkey by the prime minister to further discuss the issue.Sources said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had sent a loud message to his Nato allies in Europe on how seriously Ankara took its relationship with Pakistan, which was now under the threat of attacks from the Nato forces in Afghanistan.The source said that the loud commitment on the part of Turkey was being taken as a major achievement of PM Gilani during his trip to the country.Talking to The News, Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Zahid Bashir confirmed that Turkey had told Pakistan that it would use its “influence” as an important Nato member to stop the US incursions into the Pakistan territory. Top-level sources have confirmed to The News that in the bilateral talks, Turkey expressed its complete support to Pakistan on its 3-D policy for fighting terrorism. Ministers of interior and justice of the two countries would now coordinate cooperation in security matters. The sources said that Pakistan would also form a Pakistan-Turkish parliamentary friendship league to promote parliamentary exchanges and cooperation.Gilani and Turkish prime minister agreed to initiate joint concerted efforts to increase the present volume of bilateral trade from $690 million to $1 billion in the near future.Turkey would also encourage its firms to invest in Pakistan’s agriculture, agro industry, construction, thermal and infrastructure sectors. Besides, Turkey will help Pakistan develop its tourism industry and tourism related infrastructure.

Pakistani troops fire on US Helicopters.

There seems not to be much discussion of this in the US press. It is simply an example of Bush's post 9/11 doctrine that any country that harbors terrorists (the Taliban apparently) will be a foe and not safe from attack. Of course the US harboring anti-Cuban terrorists does not count nor Iraq harbouring anti-Iranian terrorist groups. However, Pakistan receives much military aid from the U.S. and is regarded as an ally. Apparently, Pakistan has a failing grade and so the U.S. is acting on its own. This may plunge Pakistan into civil war but then I guess that is just collateral damage. As a post earlier shows, US intelligence has advised against these actions but then what do they know compared to the Bush neo-con geniuses.

Officials: Pakistani Troops Fired on US Helicopters Trying to Cross Border
Posted September 15, 2008
Early this morning, US helicopters crossed the border into Pakistan’s South Waziristan Agency and attempted to land in Angor Adda, in a raid reminiscent of September 3rd’s unprecedented attack by US helicopters and ground forces in the same region, which killed 20 civilians. This was seen as the beginning of America’s so-called “gloves are off” strategy of escalating attacks along the Pakistani border. But this incident ended quite differently from the previous raid.
Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Parvez Kayani announced last week that the Pakistani military would no longer allow foreign forces to operate on Pakistani soil. On Thursday, another high ranking Pakistani official, Major-General Athar Abbas confirmed the order, and said the army had been ordered to retaliate against foreign operations. If the Bush Administration was unclear on the sincerity of this position prior to today, it is no doubt clarified as Pakistani troops opened fire on the invading helicopters, forcing them to retreat into Afghanistan.
Officially, Pakistan’s military denies that the Americans ever crossed the border or that their forces fired on them, but several news agencies cite local officials and anonymous military personnel who confirm the incident. One of the local residents told DPA that they had advanced warning of the impending American attack, and that “thousands of armed tribesmen” had amassed on the Pakistani side of the border intent on fighting them off.
The latest border incident comes with newly elected President Asif Ali Zardari en route to Britain for talks with Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Brown has said that he will press Pakistan to allow NATO forces into its territory, though NATO has insisted that it won’t participate in any US cross-border raids.
President Zardari announced in an editorial published the day after the first Angor Adda attack in the Washington Post that he “stands with the United States,” a position that seems increasingly untenable as the unpopular US air strikes continue and tribesmen in the South Waziristan area threaten to abandon a long-standing peace deal if his government doesn’t end the US attacks on them.