'Afghanistan, Pakistan: The Battlespace Of The Border', Stratfor, 14 October 2008

EXCERPT: "U.S. military cross-border operations from Afghanistan into Pakistan have become increasingly overt and unilateral since the spring. More than a tactical shift, these operations are meant to address the strategic problem of Pakistan's lawless Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), where Taliban fighters from Afghanistan rest, recuperate and resupply and where other jihadists mount a growing Islamist insurgency in Pakistan. The next U.S. president will soon be working closely with the new head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. David Petraeus, on developing and implementing a new strategy for Afghanistan. This strategy will have to address the situation in Pakistan, where FATA sanctuaries for al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are reminiscent of North Vietnamese army sanctuaries in Laos and Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The northern part of the Afghan-Pakistani border is delineated by the Hindu Kush, a western subrange of the Himalayas that is at its highest elevations in the north, where a long and narrow spit of Afghan territory runs all the way to the Chinese border. The Hindu Kush rises above the disputed territory of Kashmir and feeds into the Himalayas, which are the world's tallest mountains."

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See also:
'', AFP, 14 October 2008
'Terrorism ownership', Pakistan Observer, 14 October 2008
'', The Post, 14 October 2008
'Waking up to reality in Afghanistan', Middle East Online, 13 October 2008

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