A Lesson in Airpower and Counterterrorism

Matthew Yglesias digs through the archives of the Royal Air Force and emerges with a certain deja vu:

March – May 1925-Outrages by Mahsud tribesmen in Waziristan, India, see the RAF involved in its first independent air action. Aircraft from Nos. 5, 27 and 60 Squadrons, commanded by Wing Commander RCM Pink, bomb and strafe mountain strongholds in a successful attempt to crush the rebellion. On 1 May, the rebel leaders seek an honourable peace, and the short campaign known as “Pink’s War” came to a close. A campaign in 1919 had proved inconclusive after causing 1,329 casualties; this latest action results in the loss of just 2 men.

Meanwhile, motorbike-borne Pakistani militants assassinated a one-star Pakistani general on the streets of Islamabad.