ISLAMABAD -- Despite its cooperation with the United States in the war on terror, Pakistan can hardly be said to have started the new year on a pleasant note. A brief military encounter between American soldiers and a group of Pakistani paramilitary troops close to the Afghan border -- following a shot fired by a Pakistani -- left at least one American soldier injured.
The U.S. side responded to the incident by calling in aerial support and dropping a 220-kg bomb on a village that Pakistan claimed was on its side of the poorly demarcated border. Many observers have wondered whether this incident will mark the beginning of the end of Pakistan's support for the U.S.
In the days and weeks following the border incident, both Pakistani and American officials have gone out of their way to reaffirm their close alliance. At least one Pakistani official described the shooting as no more than a "blip," although others have called it a major hump along what had been a smooth road.