That's Another Fine Mess...

The recently completed US-Pakistani assault on tribal areas where Osama Bin Laden was believed to have been hiding is being hailed as another success by the White House and Pakistan's military dictator.

But the truth is, the assault incurred considerable casualties without achieving its main goals. Bin Laden was not captured, or even identified, the insurgents remain embedded in the mountainous terrain, anti-US and anti-Mussharaf feeling in the local area is higher than ever, and - perhaps most significantly - there is a growing split within the Pakistan military.

As the Asia Times Online reports, "there is a perception that, given the failings of the South Waziristan operation, there is an 'an intelligence within an intelligence' and 'an army within an army' in Pakistan and that factions in these organizations backed the tribals 'in the name of Islam'. According to sources, more than 150 soldiers of the army and para-military forces refused to take part in the action, including at least one colonel and a major. "