What Is the Bush Doctrine, Anyway?

Pakistan Watch

Karen DeYoung writes in The Washington Post: "New rules of engagement authorizing U.S. ground attacks inside Pakistan, signed by President Bush in July, were not agreed to by that country's civilian government or its military, according to U.S. and Pakistani officials. . . .

"News of Bush's order, following a strike last week by helicopter-borne U.S. commandos on a village about 20 miles inside Pakistan, brought denunciation yesterday from Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani. . . .

"[A] senior European official called the implementation of the new strategy 'peculiar,' since its timing coincided with this week's inauguration of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

"'If you're going to invade another country . . . without their permission, after you've just spent eight years trying to get a democratic government in place, it strikes me as kind of confused politics,' the official said."

And could this be the "groundbreaking" new covert technique that Bob Woodward obliquely alludes to in his new book?

Greg Miller and Julian E. Barnes write in the Los Angeles Times: "As part of an escalating offensive against extremist targets in Pakistan, the United States is deploying Predator aircraft equipped with sophisticated new surveillance systems that were instrumental in crippling the insurgency in Iraq, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials. . . .

"The new system now being deployed was first used on aircraft in Afghanistan, then was installed on Predators in Iraq starting about a year ago. Officials said introduction of the devices coincided with the 2007 U.S. troop buildup in Iraq, and was an important, but hitherto unknown, factor in the subsequent drop in violence in that country.

"The technology allows suspects to be identified quickly. 'All I have to do is point the sensor at him,' said a military officer familiar with the system, 'and a missile can be off the rail in seconds.'"

Afghanistan Watch

Jason Straziuso writes for the Associated Press: "Insurgents killed two U.S. troops in Afghanistan on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks Thursday, making 2008 the deadliest year for American forces since U.S. troops invaded the country in 2001 for sheltering Osama bin Laden.

"The deaths brought the number of troops who have died in Afghanistan this year to 113, according to an Associated Press tally, surpassing last year's record toll of 111."

Peter Bergen and Katherine Tiedemann writes in a Los Angeles Times op-ed: "This week, as we remember the nearly 3,000 American citizens who died in the rubble of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon or in a remote field in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001, we also should think about the civilians who are still dying in Afghanistan. . . .

"Civilians in Afghanistan have been caught in the crossfire for too long. Over-reliance on airstrikes is counterproductive in the battle for Afghan hearts and minds. President Bush's announcement this week that he will send nearly 5,000 additional troops to Afghanistan is a good way to start ameliorating this situation, but it is not enough."