Friday’s public argument at the Aspen conference, in which Pakistani ambassador Sherry Rehman complained about cross border attacks by Taliban forces operating in occupied Afghanistan has spawned another angry response.
NATO’s International Security Assistance Force issued a statement today denying the charges that Taliban are setting up safe havens in Kunar Province, insisting that every time Pakistan has reported a violation of their border NATO has dispatched “appropriate” force.
The statement went on to say that Pakistan’s claims of 52 separate border violations “are incorrect,” saying that the actual number was “far fewer” though not providing any actual details.
Pakistan has complained several times in recent months about major attacks coming out of Kunar, with sometimes hundreds of fighters showing up in the Swat Valley to attack a Pakistani villages or military outpost before retreating back into Afghanistan. The NATO statement downplayed the seriousness of such incidents, saying the focus should be on Pakistani militants crossing the border into Afghanistan, not the other way around.
Thirty five U.S. dead in Afghanistan in July 2012. Five more NATO soldiers have died in July but are as yet unidentified. If the U.S. reaches 40 dead this month it will mark the second time in 2012 that number has been reached as forty U.S. soldiers died in May, 2012. The monthly total of 40 U.S. dead in May, 2012 was the highest total of U.S. dead in May for the entire Afghan War.
When NATO's regard for a country's sovereignty allows for their cross-border incursions, at will, how can other nations learn of what sovereignty really means? The violation of international laws by Western countries only will lead to a disregard for law and order by developing countries.