Two Observations
By Mitch Berg
Kudos to Pakistan’s army, which pulled off one of the most dangerous, difficult missions there is over the weekend:
Pakistan’s army says commandos have caught the last militant who attacked its headquarters and took dozens of hostages.Spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas says the capture Sunday morning brings to an end a 22-hour standoff in the garrison city of Rawalpindi outside the capital.
He says the final militant who was caught is wounded.
The raid involved shooting the terrorist “guarding” the hostages with a suicide vest before he could detonate himself and everyone in the room. It’s the kind of thing that looks easy on “The Unit”, but we all know better than that.
The good news: they did it (losing two commands, three hostages, and killing four terrorists in the process).
The bad news: it looks like Pakistani commandos are getting lots of practice.
Second observation: The AP’s slugline for the story, “Pakistan nabs last attacker, ends siege of army HQ”.
Is the end result of an incredibly high-risk commando really a “nab?”
Oh, yeah – and as Roggio notes, it kinda shut down the Pakistani Army for 18 hours in the middle of a war. Can anyone imagine what’d happen if the Pentagon dropped off the grid for 18 hours?
