Operation Geronimo – result of Pak-US deal???

[muhammadmohsinali]

To the bewilderment of the Pakistani nation and surprise of the entire world, eye-popping information continues to surface in the aftermath of US operation Geronimo – the Hollywood style raid in Pakistan’s major city of Abbottabad that took out the world’s most wanted leader of al-Qaeda.Just when Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani attempted in his typically unconvincing and fumbling way to take into confidence the nation whose self-esteem has already hit nadir, the British media exploded yet another bomb. The Guardian in its breaking news, quoting serving and retired Pakistani and US officials, revealed that the US and Pakistan struck a secret deal almost a decade ago permitting a US operation against Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil.The accord was made between the then president General Pervez Musharraf and his US counterpart George Bush after Bin Laden disappeared into the thin air in the mountains of Tora Bora in late 2001.The pact allowed the US forces to launch a unilateral assault inside Pakistan in a bid to hunt down Bin Laden, his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and the al-Qaida No3. Both sides also agreed that following such raids, Pakistan would vociferously protest the incursion.In this context what PM Gilani said in his speech in the National Assembly aimed at addressing the nation’s trepidations, would seem to make a whole lot of sense. He warned that if US conducted any such raids in future, Pakistan reserves the right to retaliate with full force.The Guardian, quoted a senior Pakistani official, saying that the deal was sealed under Musharraf and renewed by the army during the "transition to democracy" – a six-month period from February 2008 when Musharraf was still president but a civilian government had been elected.The official, referring to the Abbottabad operation, added: "As far as our American friends are concerned, they have just implemented the agreement."This latest report has, at least, shed some obscurity shrouding the manner in which Pakistani civilian and military officials reacted following the US raid in Abbottabad that eliminated bin Laden.One now wonders if the in-camera briefing by the military to the joint parliamentary sitting next Friday holds any significance for the nation that had constantly been kept in the dark on Pakistan’s role in the war on terror not just by Musharraf’s military rule but also by the incumbent civilian government.

[usaf]

dear brother the surprise you have shown over the breaking news by the Guardian has surprised me. had it not even reported the accord, it was still well understood and logical at least in my opinion, that both Pak and US governments and armies have developed an understanding during this war against terrorism. it was the same tactic that was used in the killing of BaituLLAH Mehsud whom we could not kill. Similarly we have allowed them to kill low level leaders of Al-qaeda through drone attacks.If those drones are allowed by our country which kill scores of innocent citizen of our country besides low level Al Qaeda members then why not an operation that killed the man most wanted by the US and the whole world? we know that our govt and army could have never benn afforded to kill OBL on its own. Even its participation would have brought disasterous results for us. as far as the protest by Pakistan is concerned its the same deja vu. now we must not stuck back in past like we always do. think forward