Scary Stuff

Late last night I caught up on some of the news I hadn't read earlier, and I was stunned by this article in the Washington Post.

In the predawn hours of Jan. 29, a CIA Predator aircraft flew in a slow
arc above the Pakistani town of Mir Ali. The drone's operator, relying
on information secretly passed to the CIA by local informants, clicked a
computer mouse and sent the first of two Hellfire missiles hurtling
toward a cluster of mud-brick buildings a few miles from the town center.

The missiles killed Abu Laith al-Libi, a senior al-Qaeda commander and a
man who had repeatedly eluded the CIA's dragnet. It was the first
successful strike against al-Qaeda's core leadership in two years, and
it involved, U.S. officials say, an unusual degree of autonomy by the
CIA inside Pakistan.

Having requested the Pakistani government's official permission for such
strikes on previous occasions, only to be put off or turned down, this
time the U.S. spy agency did not seek approval. The government of
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was notified only as the operation
was underway, according to the officials, who insisted on anonymity
because of diplomatic sensitivities.

Officials say the incident was a model of how Washington often scores
its rare victories these days in the fight against al-Qaeda inside
Pakistan's national borders: It acts with assistance from well-paid
sympathizers inside the country, but without getting the government's
formal permission beforehand. [Emphasis added]

Launching an attack on another country is conventionally viewed as an act of war. It seems to me that by sending those drones into Pakistan to blow up al Qaeda operatives without the prior consent of Pakistan's leader we effectively attacked Pakistan itself. Another corollary to the doctrine of "pre-emptive war"? It certainly looks that way to me, and this time the White House doesn't have the cover of Congressional approval. It's hard to imagine that the AUMF would extend to this.

But wait, there's more:

It is an approach that some U.S. officials say could be used more
frequently this year, particularly if a power vacuum results from
yesterday's election and associated political tumult. The administration
also feels an increased sense of urgency about undermining al Qaeda before President Bush leaves office, making it less hesitant, said one
official familiar with the incident. [Emphasis added]

We are engaging in another war to shore up the Bush Legacy? This time we used unmanned drones, but it's not hard to imagine that the current administration would send in special forces or even regular forces to do the job, especially if the rest of the world sits back and lets us. And the Washington Post has already begun catapulting the propaganda:

U.S. military officials say, however, that the uneven performance of their Pakistani counterparts increasingly requires that Washington pursue the fight however it can, sometimes following an unorthodox paththat leaves in the dark Pakistani military and intelligence officials who at best lack commitment and resolve and at worst lack sympathy forU.S. interests. [Emphasis added]

As Steve Simels is wont to say, "Just shoot me now."

334 days

[Note: I have no fucking clue why I can't get the formatting to settle down. Simels regrets the error]