BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — Usually when you hear about cross-border attacks here, they are perpetrated by the Taliban. Not so much in recent weeks — this time it’s the U.S. dipping its toes into Pakistan, which Sen. John McCain has said Sen. Barack Obama is naive for proposing.

Last week, the U.S. allegedly went after a target in Pakistan — something that the U.S. military never confirmed but nonetheless prompted Pakistan’s new government to shut down a crucial NATO resupply entry point. Today comes word that the U.S. fired a missile at the old-school Taliban commander Jalaladeen Haqqani’s Pakistan redoubt.

With any luck I can get to the border tomorrow, to learn more about all this crossborder activity.
In the meantime, Bill Roggio’s Long War Journal has a very informative post about the increase in cross-border operations in 2008. Most of them, it seems, have come in the form of airstrikes, because ground troops were a no-no even during the relatively complaint government of Pervez Musharraf.
Perhaps last week’s (alleged!) ground-troop raid was a test of what the U.S. military can get away with. Keep an eye on how new Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari reacts in the coming days.