It’s Open War in the Pakistani tribal areas. After recent ambushes, suicide attacks, bombings, and missile and grenade launches, the Pakistan Army has begun to respond with infantry offensives, artillery bombing, and air raids. So far the victims are counted in the dozens; forty killed on Monday alone. President Musharraf pushed to restart dialogue with local Taliban chiefs up to the last, but strong pressure from Washington – which is threatening direct intervention in Pakistan’s territory – forced him finally to call his generals to battle.

The US contribution. The irritation of the Islamabad government at US threats of an attack against Al Qaeda strongholds in Pakistan – “an irresponsible act that will not be permitted,” thundered the Foreign Ministry – should fool no one. In this new military offensive, the US is playing a barely visible but fundamental role. US Special Operations commandos are on the ground, performing both reconnaissance and combat functions. From Afghanistan, their ground-to-ground “Himars” missiles strike objectives in Pakistan territory, reinforced by “Hellfire” missiles guided by Predator drones or Apache helicopters. Since the war isn’t fought only with weapons, the US is also furnishing the Pakistan government with millions of dollars for the “purchase” of tribal chiefs and Taliban commanders. Interviewed last Sunday by Fox News, Bush’s National Security Advisor Frances Townsend answered the question, “Why doesn’t the US send Pakistan Special Forces and remote-controlled attack aircraft?’, by saying, “The fact that we don’t say certain things in public doesn’t mean that we aren’t already doing them.”

Nothing New. There’s nothing new about US military involvement in Pakistan. The first US bombing raids on tribal areas in Pakistan began at least a year and a half ago. Direct action against presumed Al Qaeda and Taliban commanders succeeded only in killing dozens of civilians. Some examples:

January 13, 2006: At least 18 civilians die in the bombing of the village of Damadola in the Bajaur tribal region. October 30 2006: in the same region, 82 students, including children, die in the bombing of the madras in Chingai. June 20, 2007: 34 civilians are killed in the bombing of the villages of Mangroti and Angoor Ada, respectively in North and South Waziristan. Thus it was strange, today, to hear Islamabad’s Foreign Minister, Tasnim Aslam, announce that, “No nation will be permitted to carry out military actions within Pakistan’s borders, in any way, no matter what”.