(CBS News) Three young American students are back home safe and sound tonight after their brief confinement in Egypt last week.
They say they were simply trying to watch history in the making, but as CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers reports, they got a lot more than they bargained for.
There were emotional homecomings for the three college students held for 6 days by Egyptian authorities when they arrived back on American soil.
Greg Porter landed in Philadelphia, Luke Gates in Indianapolis.
Derrik Sweeney, center, gets hugs from his father Kevin Sweeney, left, and sister Ashley, right, as arms from his mother, Joy Sweeney, wrap around from behind after Derrik arrived at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011, in St. Louis. (Credit: AP Photo)
Derrick Sweeney, 19, arrived in St. Louis, Mo., late Saturday night. Earlier Sunday, he finally arrived at his family home in Jefferson City.
"It feels like home," Derrick said.
3 arrested students back from Egypt
American student arrested in Cairo returns home
Egypt drops charges against 3 U.S. students
The three were arrested last Sunday accused of throwing Molotov cocktails near Cairo's Tahrir Square.
Derrick described his first night in custody as follows: "We were in a near-fetal position with our hand handcuffed behind our back, and with our shirts still over our heads so we couldn't see even in the dark, and they said if we moved, we would get shot...they would shoot us."
The three were brought before cameras, showing them with firebombs Egyptian authorities said came from their backpacks. Derrick said these bottles might have belonged to Egyptians, but not to him or his friends.
One picture shows Derrick holding what looks like a Dasani water bottle, but there's clearly colored fluid in it.
"They made me put it up against my mouth and threatened as though they were going to make me drink it. As far as I could tell, my best guess would be gasoline," Derrick said.
With help from the U.S. embassy, the young men were released on Friday.
Sunday, the Georgetown University student admitted he may have been naive in having been drawn to an area where protestors and police were battling it out. He says he was curious to watch Egypt's struggle for political freedom
"It's about a passion for democracy and liberty and values that I think Americans can stand for too," Derrick said.
Derrick doubts he'll be allowed back into Egypt anytime soon. For now, he's thankful to be home.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Occupy Protest: three month
Los Angeles, Calif.
A protester is arrested by Los Angeles Police Department officers after he attempted to join a group of Occupy LA demonstrators occupying a park in front of the Bank of America building, November 17, 2011 in downtown Los Angeles. Several dozen were arrested by the LAPD after marching through downtown.
As the protest movement entered its third month - beginning with a nationwide Day of Action on Nov. 17 - anti-Wall Street demonstrators were facing increased opposition from city governments and law enforcement, who were deploying more sweeping tactics to take down tent encampments and curb rallies - just days after the U.S. Conference of Mayors held a conference call for mayors about the Occupy rallies in their respective cities.
Police in Oakland, Seattle, Denver, and other cities arrested protesters and dismantled tent camps, and in New York City - the birthplace of the movement - Mayor Bloomberg ordered Zuccotti Park cleared of tents.
On the Day of Action, 400 people were arrested nationwide, 300 of them in New York City.
Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-201_162-10010342.html#ixzz1f2sy2snK
A protester is arrested by Los Angeles Police Department officers after he attempted to join a group of Occupy LA demonstrators occupying a park in front of the Bank of America building, November 17, 2011 in downtown Los Angeles. Several dozen were arrested by the LAPD after marching through downtown.
As the protest movement entered its third month - beginning with a nationwide Day of Action on Nov. 17 - anti-Wall Street demonstrators were facing increased opposition from city governments and law enforcement, who were deploying more sweeping tactics to take down tent encampments and curb rallies - just days after the U.S. Conference of Mayors held a conference call for mayors about the Occupy rallies in their respective cities.
Police in Oakland, Seattle, Denver, and other cities arrested protesters and dismantled tent camps, and in New York City - the birthplace of the movement - Mayor Bloomberg ordered Zuccotti Park cleared of tents.
On the Day of Action, 400 people were arrested nationwide, 300 of them in New York City.
Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-201_162-10010342.html#ixzz1f2sy2snK
WH shooting suspect found competent for trial
AP) WASHINGTON - A man accused of firing shots at the White House in an attempt to kill President Barack Obama is competent to stand trial, according to a preliminary psychiatric screening. But federal prosecutors filed a motion Monday requesting more extensive tests in the event that his mental health becomes an issue.
An initial, 50-minute evaluation by a court-appointed psychiatrist found that Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez is competent to understand the proceedings against him and to help with his defense, according to the prosecutors' motion.
Ortega, a 21-year-old native of Idaho Falls, Idaho, is accused of using an assault rifle to fire up to nine shots at the White House on the evening of Nov. 11, when Obama was out of town. He fired the shots at long range from the window of his Honda sedan, authorities said. One bullet smashed into a window of the living quarters of the executive mansion but was stopped by ballistic glass.
Accused White House shooter says he's Jesus
White House gun suspect obsessed with Obama
FBI: Would-be Obama assassin had brass knuckles
Secret Service: Man arrested in Pa. in connection to shooting near White House
Ortega is one of a handful of people ever accused of trying to assassinate the president, a charge that carries a potential life sentence. He has referred to Obama as the Antichrist and told acquaintances he "needed to kill him," court documents show.
On Monday, a federal judge granted a defense request to delay Ortega's preliminary hearing to give attorneys time to argue whether he should undergo additional screening. Ortega is due back in court Dec. 12.
In their motion, prosecutors said they did not dispute the finding of competency. But they argued a full psychiatric screening is warranted "given the serious nature of the criminal charges pending against the defendant and the likelihood that mental health issues may arise in the course of these proceedings."
The long-haired, bearded Ortega, wearing a blue prison jumpsuit, said "Yes, sir," during Monday's brief court appearance when asked if he understood the proceedings. He is being held without bond.
An initial, 50-minute evaluation by a court-appointed psychiatrist found that Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez is competent to understand the proceedings against him and to help with his defense, according to the prosecutors' motion.
Ortega, a 21-year-old native of Idaho Falls, Idaho, is accused of using an assault rifle to fire up to nine shots at the White House on the evening of Nov. 11, when Obama was out of town. He fired the shots at long range from the window of his Honda sedan, authorities said. One bullet smashed into a window of the living quarters of the executive mansion but was stopped by ballistic glass.
Accused White House shooter says he's Jesus
White House gun suspect obsessed with Obama
FBI: Would-be Obama assassin had brass knuckles
Secret Service: Man arrested in Pa. in connection to shooting near White House
Ortega is one of a handful of people ever accused of trying to assassinate the president, a charge that carries a potential life sentence. He has referred to Obama as the Antichrist and told acquaintances he "needed to kill him," court documents show.
On Monday, a federal judge granted a defense request to delay Ortega's preliminary hearing to give attorneys time to argue whether he should undergo additional screening. Ortega is due back in court Dec. 12.
In their motion, prosecutors said they did not dispute the finding of competency. But they argued a full psychiatric screening is warranted "given the serious nature of the criminal charges pending against the defendant and the likelihood that mental health issues may arise in the course of these proceedings."
The long-haired, bearded Ortega, wearing a blue prison jumpsuit, said "Yes, sir," during Monday's brief court appearance when asked if he understood the proceedings. He is being held without bond.
Anti-NATO tension builds in Pakistan By Farhan Bokhari Topics Pakistan ,
SLAMABAD - Pakistan on Saturday demanded the United States vacate an airbase within 15 days, as tension mounted between the two countries, following the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers in an attack earlier in the day by Afghanistan-based NATO helicopters targeting a remote border outpost.
The Shamsi Air Base in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province has long been suspected of having been used to carry out U.S. drone attacks. In recent months, conflicting accounts have been made about the current presence of U.S. personnel at the base.
After a meeting of the Defense Coordination Committee (or DCC) of the Pakistani cabinet, a late evening announcement by the foreign ministry said that the U.S. had been given 15 days to vacate the base. The DCC meeting also ratified a decision earlier in the day to shut down all supply routes for trucks passing through Pakistan to Western troops in Afghanistan.
In separate assessments of the decision on Shamsi Air Base, Western and Pakistani officials said its closure may not jeopardize the drone program operated by the CIA which has successfully targeted hundreds of Islamic militants in the Afghan-Pakistan border region. Still, there were warnings that Pakistan's decision will mark a significant symbolic setback surrounding relations between Washington and Islamabad.
"As far as I know, the drone program which is run by the CIA is operated from locations in Afghanistan and not Shamsi any longer," said one senior Western diplomat in Islamabad who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity. "The Shamsi Air Base decision will be seen as a significant symbolic setback to the U.S.-Pak relations," he added.
Pakistan blasts "unprovoked" NATO attacks
NATO: "Highly likely" it killed Pakistanis
A senior Pakistani government official who also spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity said that the decision indicated rapidly mounting anger among Pakistan's civil and military leaders.
"I think the feeling is clearly 'enough is enough,'" said the Pakistani official. "It doesn't matter if the Shamsi base is an active staging post for drone attacks or not. Pakistan's protest must be recorded as much as possible."
A Pakistani cabinet minister who also spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity, however, warned that the attack that killed Pakistani soldiers earlier on Saturday "had in fact violated a very firm red line drawn by Pakistan. The decision by the Pakistani government is that we must all take a stand, because the killing of our soldiers in cold blood is just not acceptable."
The Shamsi Air Base in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province has long been suspected of having been used to carry out U.S. drone attacks. In recent months, conflicting accounts have been made about the current presence of U.S. personnel at the base.
After a meeting of the Defense Coordination Committee (or DCC) of the Pakistani cabinet, a late evening announcement by the foreign ministry said that the U.S. had been given 15 days to vacate the base. The DCC meeting also ratified a decision earlier in the day to shut down all supply routes for trucks passing through Pakistan to Western troops in Afghanistan.
In separate assessments of the decision on Shamsi Air Base, Western and Pakistani officials said its closure may not jeopardize the drone program operated by the CIA which has successfully targeted hundreds of Islamic militants in the Afghan-Pakistan border region. Still, there were warnings that Pakistan's decision will mark a significant symbolic setback surrounding relations between Washington and Islamabad.
"As far as I know, the drone program which is run by the CIA is operated from locations in Afghanistan and not Shamsi any longer," said one senior Western diplomat in Islamabad who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity. "The Shamsi Air Base decision will be seen as a significant symbolic setback to the U.S.-Pak relations," he added.
Pakistan blasts "unprovoked" NATO attacks
NATO: "Highly likely" it killed Pakistanis
A senior Pakistani government official who also spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity said that the decision indicated rapidly mounting anger among Pakistan's civil and military leaders.
"I think the feeling is clearly 'enough is enough,'" said the Pakistani official. "It doesn't matter if the Shamsi base is an active staging post for drone attacks or not. Pakistan's protest must be recorded as much as possible."
A Pakistani cabinet minister who also spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity, however, warned that the attack that killed Pakistani soldiers earlier on Saturday "had in fact violated a very firm red line drawn by Pakistan. The decision by the Pakistani government is that we must all take a stand, because the killing of our soldiers in cold blood is just not acceptable."
November 28, 2011 5:27 PM PRINT TEXT U.S.-Pakistan relations now at their "worst"
This image from cell phone video obtained by CBS News shows Pakistani soldiers tending to wounded colleagues after NATO air strikes killed 24 Pakistani troops at border checkpoints in the Mohmand region, Nov. 26. 2011. (CBS)
(CBS/AP) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers came just as the difficult relationship between the U.S. and Pakistani militaries was showing signs of improvement.
Only hours earlier, U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, the coalition's top commander in Afghanistan, and Pakistan's army Chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani concluded a meeting that sought to find common ground, a senior U.S. official told The Associated Press.
The official said the two men discussed areas of cooperation and "basically what we could do for each other."
Now, Kayani is under renewed pressure from his rank and file, intelligence sharing has stopped and Pakistan has withdrawn its offer to nudge the Afghan Taliban to the negotiation table.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told CNN on Monday that Pakistan's relationship with the U.S. can no longer be "business as usual."
"If I can't protect the sovereignty of my country, how can we say that this is mutual respect and mutual interest?" Gilani asked in the interview.
Pakistan: NATO strikes lasted almost 2 hours
Pakistan retaliation puts NATO in lurch
Pakistan orders U.S. to shut major down air base
Anti-NATO tension builds in Pakistan
The Obama administration says Pakistan is considering pulling out of an international conference on Afghanistan next week as a result of the airstrikes.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner says Pakistani officials have informed the U.S. they are reviewing their participation. He acknowledged that the weekend incident was a setback for U.S.-Pakistani relations.
The conference next week in Bonn, Germany, seeks a strategy to stabilize Afghanistan a decade after al-Qaida used the country as a base to launch the Sept. 11 attacks and U.S.-backed forces overthrew the Taliban.
Toner urged Pakistan to attend.
He also said Monday that investigations were under way into the NATO strikes. He said Washington and Islamabad will have to work through the difficulties in their "vitally important" relationship.
On its website, the U.S. embassy warned of possible retaliation against Americans and said some U.S. government personnel outside Islamabad were being recalled to the capital as a precaution.
U.S. officials believe a case of mistaken identity may have led to the deadliest case of friendly fire with Pakistan since the Afghanistan war began.
Officials who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity said the raid began when a joint U.S.-Afghan special operations team was attacked by militants in Afghanistan.
The U.S. officials said that the special operations team returned fire and when the suspected insurgents fled, called for air strikes. The air strikes apparently then hit what a U.S. commander believed was a military encampment, but was in fact a Pakistani base.
There were conflicting reports, however, about who fired first.
Unnamed Afghan officials have said that Afghan commandos and U.S. special forces were conducting a mission on the Afghan side of the border and took incoming fire from the direction of the Pakistani posts.
An Afghan intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity to CBS News' Sami Yousafzai, backed up that claim Monday, saying a joint U.S.-Afghan patrol came under "heavy artillery fire" from the Pakistani side of the border early Saturday morning. The air strikes were called in to hit the location from which the shells were fired, the official said, as the U.S. military decided, "regardless of whether the shellers were Pakistani Army or Taliban, they had to eliminate the position."
Pakistan retaliation puts NATO in lurch
Pakistan orders U.S. to shut major down air base
Anti-NATO tension builds in Pakistan
But Pakistani Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the Pakistani troops at two border posts were the victims of unprovoked aggression. He said the attack lasted almost two hours and that commanders had contacted NATO counterparts while it was going on, asking that "they get this fire to cease, but somehow it continued."
The accounts given to CBS News by the Afghan and Pakistani officials directly contradict each other.
NATO has described the incident as "tragic and unintended" and has promised a full investigation.
The White House said Monday that President Barack Obama considers the incident a tragedy and that the administration is determined to look into the circumstances of the airstrikes.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the president extends sympathy to the families of the dead soldiers and to the people of Pakistan. Carney said: "We take it very seriously."
A complete breakdown in the U.S.-Pakistani relationship seems unlikely, and both sides know that more is at stake than ever before.
Nevertheless, the senior U.S. official said the weekend pre-dawn raids have left the relationship "the worst it has been" — dashing hopes of restoring ties damaged by Pakistani anger over the unilateral U.S. raid on Osama bin Laden's hide-out, and U.S. outrage that the al Qaeda leader was living not far from Pakistan's version of West Point.
Saturday's airstrikes lasted almost two hours and persisted even after Pakistani commanders pleaded with coalition forces to stop, the Pakistani army claimed Monday.
NATO described the incident as "tragic and unintended" and promised a full investigation.
Afghan officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said Afghan commandos and U.S. special forces were conducting a mission on the Afghan side of the border and received incoming fire from the direction of the Pakistani posts. They responded with airstrikes.
Pakistan denies it fired first at NATO.
The poorly defined, mountainous border has been a constant source of tension between Pakistan and the United States.
NATO officials have complained that insurgents fire across the frontier into Afghanistan, often from positions close to Pakistani soldiers who have been accused of tolerating or supporting the militants. NATO and Afghan forces are not allowed to cross into Pakistan in pursuit of militants.
For its part, the Pakistani military has complained about anti-Pakistan insurgents finding safe havens in Afghanistan's Kunar and Nuristan provinces. In the area in which Saturday's attack took place, Pakistan has suffered dozens of casualties at the hands of insurgents who return across the border to Afghanistan, according to U.S. and Pakistani officials.
Allen, who was visiting at Kayani's invitation, was in Pakistan when he received word of the raid, according to the senior U.S. official. "Nine hours after that meeting started, all hell broke lose," the official said.
Before Saturday's raid, the official said, "the military-to-military relationship had stabilized and was slowly, incrementally improving. The intelligence-to-intelligence relationship had also stabilized and incrementally was improving. Now it has all stopped."
Pakistan moved quickly to retaliate. It evicted the United States from Shamsi air base in southwest Baluchistan, where some CIA drones are repaired, and shut the border to NATO supplies for Afghanistan. Islamabad also withdrew an offer to encourage Afghanistan's Taliban to the negotiation table, said a senior Pakistani security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
For Kayani the raid was a personal blow. Under mounting pressure from his increasingly anti-American middle-ranking officers, Kayani has tried to assuage their resentment to Pakistan's partnership with the United States and as well as the 4,000 military casualties in the fight against domestic insurgents — more than double the deaths among U.S. and NATO troops in 10 years of war in Afghanistan.
At a National Defense University session this year, Kayani was grilled for four hours by midlevel officers who wanted to know why they were fighting this war, according to a participant who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
"This is very serious for Kayani. The troops are so angry. They are supposed to be allies with the Americans, and the allies are killing them. He has to be sensitive to their feelings. He has to be careful about his own image and his own safety," said retired Lt. Gen. Talat Masood. "The trouble is Kayani cannot face his troops unless the Americans give a very strong statement that this was a genuine mistake, apologize and compensate in a very big way."
Saturday's strikes added to popular anger in Pakistan against the U.S.-led coalition presence in Afghanistan. Many in the army, parliament, general population and media already believed that the U.S. and NATO are hostile to Pakistan and that the Afghan Taliban are not the enemy.
"Whoever is a friend of America is a traitor to the land," some 400 members of Jamaat-e-Dawa, an alleged front group for the militant Lashkar-e-Taiba organization, chanted in a demonstration in Karachi, the country's biggest city.
Washington views Islamabad as key to bringing about a reconciliation to end the decade-long Afghan war and allow the United States and its NATO partners to complete a military withdrawal by 2014.
If Pakistan bows out of the peace process, it "would hugely complicate the reconciliation process," said the senior U.S. official.
He said, however, that "it wouldn't be fatal. We would have to become all the more covert to deal with Afghans on this side of the border and it is also a fact that Pakistan does not have 100 percent control over Mullah Omar and his men nor does Pakistan have the Haqqanis on that tight a leash."
He was referring to the Taliban leader, who is believed to be hiding in Pakistan, and the Haqqani network, an insurgent group that operates from the country's lawless tribal areas.
For Pakistan a break in ties risks an end to billions of dollars in U.S. military and development aid.
But an aid cutoff may affect the military less than Pakistan's civilian government, say senior Pakistani security officials. They say military aid under the Coalition Support Fund has been erratic and that Washington routinely holds up payments.
(CBS/AP) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers came just as the difficult relationship between the U.S. and Pakistani militaries was showing signs of improvement.
Only hours earlier, U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, the coalition's top commander in Afghanistan, and Pakistan's army Chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani concluded a meeting that sought to find common ground, a senior U.S. official told The Associated Press.
The official said the two men discussed areas of cooperation and "basically what we could do for each other."
Now, Kayani is under renewed pressure from his rank and file, intelligence sharing has stopped and Pakistan has withdrawn its offer to nudge the Afghan Taliban to the negotiation table.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told CNN on Monday that Pakistan's relationship with the U.S. can no longer be "business as usual."
"If I can't protect the sovereignty of my country, how can we say that this is mutual respect and mutual interest?" Gilani asked in the interview.
Pakistan: NATO strikes lasted almost 2 hours
Pakistan retaliation puts NATO in lurch
Pakistan orders U.S. to shut major down air base
Anti-NATO tension builds in Pakistan
The Obama administration says Pakistan is considering pulling out of an international conference on Afghanistan next week as a result of the airstrikes.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner says Pakistani officials have informed the U.S. they are reviewing their participation. He acknowledged that the weekend incident was a setback for U.S.-Pakistani relations.
The conference next week in Bonn, Germany, seeks a strategy to stabilize Afghanistan a decade after al-Qaida used the country as a base to launch the Sept. 11 attacks and U.S.-backed forces overthrew the Taliban.
Toner urged Pakistan to attend.
He also said Monday that investigations were under way into the NATO strikes. He said Washington and Islamabad will have to work through the difficulties in their "vitally important" relationship.
On its website, the U.S. embassy warned of possible retaliation against Americans and said some U.S. government personnel outside Islamabad were being recalled to the capital as a precaution.
U.S. officials believe a case of mistaken identity may have led to the deadliest case of friendly fire with Pakistan since the Afghanistan war began.
Officials who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity said the raid began when a joint U.S.-Afghan special operations team was attacked by militants in Afghanistan.
The U.S. officials said that the special operations team returned fire and when the suspected insurgents fled, called for air strikes. The air strikes apparently then hit what a U.S. commander believed was a military encampment, but was in fact a Pakistani base.
There were conflicting reports, however, about who fired first.
Unnamed Afghan officials have said that Afghan commandos and U.S. special forces were conducting a mission on the Afghan side of the border and took incoming fire from the direction of the Pakistani posts.
An Afghan intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity to CBS News' Sami Yousafzai, backed up that claim Monday, saying a joint U.S.-Afghan patrol came under "heavy artillery fire" from the Pakistani side of the border early Saturday morning. The air strikes were called in to hit the location from which the shells were fired, the official said, as the U.S. military decided, "regardless of whether the shellers were Pakistani Army or Taliban, they had to eliminate the position."
Pakistan retaliation puts NATO in lurch
Pakistan orders U.S. to shut major down air base
Anti-NATO tension builds in Pakistan
But Pakistani Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the Pakistani troops at two border posts were the victims of unprovoked aggression. He said the attack lasted almost two hours and that commanders had contacted NATO counterparts while it was going on, asking that "they get this fire to cease, but somehow it continued."
The accounts given to CBS News by the Afghan and Pakistani officials directly contradict each other.
NATO has described the incident as "tragic and unintended" and has promised a full investigation.
The White House said Monday that President Barack Obama considers the incident a tragedy and that the administration is determined to look into the circumstances of the airstrikes.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the president extends sympathy to the families of the dead soldiers and to the people of Pakistan. Carney said: "We take it very seriously."
A complete breakdown in the U.S.-Pakistani relationship seems unlikely, and both sides know that more is at stake than ever before.
Nevertheless, the senior U.S. official said the weekend pre-dawn raids have left the relationship "the worst it has been" — dashing hopes of restoring ties damaged by Pakistani anger over the unilateral U.S. raid on Osama bin Laden's hide-out, and U.S. outrage that the al Qaeda leader was living not far from Pakistan's version of West Point.
Saturday's airstrikes lasted almost two hours and persisted even after Pakistani commanders pleaded with coalition forces to stop, the Pakistani army claimed Monday.
NATO described the incident as "tragic and unintended" and promised a full investigation.
Afghan officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said Afghan commandos and U.S. special forces were conducting a mission on the Afghan side of the border and received incoming fire from the direction of the Pakistani posts. They responded with airstrikes.
Pakistan denies it fired first at NATO.
The poorly defined, mountainous border has been a constant source of tension between Pakistan and the United States.
NATO officials have complained that insurgents fire across the frontier into Afghanistan, often from positions close to Pakistani soldiers who have been accused of tolerating or supporting the militants. NATO and Afghan forces are not allowed to cross into Pakistan in pursuit of militants.
For its part, the Pakistani military has complained about anti-Pakistan insurgents finding safe havens in Afghanistan's Kunar and Nuristan provinces. In the area in which Saturday's attack took place, Pakistan has suffered dozens of casualties at the hands of insurgents who return across the border to Afghanistan, according to U.S. and Pakistani officials.
Allen, who was visiting at Kayani's invitation, was in Pakistan when he received word of the raid, according to the senior U.S. official. "Nine hours after that meeting started, all hell broke lose," the official said.
Before Saturday's raid, the official said, "the military-to-military relationship had stabilized and was slowly, incrementally improving. The intelligence-to-intelligence relationship had also stabilized and incrementally was improving. Now it has all stopped."
Pakistan moved quickly to retaliate. It evicted the United States from Shamsi air base in southwest Baluchistan, where some CIA drones are repaired, and shut the border to NATO supplies for Afghanistan. Islamabad also withdrew an offer to encourage Afghanistan's Taliban to the negotiation table, said a senior Pakistani security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
For Kayani the raid was a personal blow. Under mounting pressure from his increasingly anti-American middle-ranking officers, Kayani has tried to assuage their resentment to Pakistan's partnership with the United States and as well as the 4,000 military casualties in the fight against domestic insurgents — more than double the deaths among U.S. and NATO troops in 10 years of war in Afghanistan.
At a National Defense University session this year, Kayani was grilled for four hours by midlevel officers who wanted to know why they were fighting this war, according to a participant who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
"This is very serious for Kayani. The troops are so angry. They are supposed to be allies with the Americans, and the allies are killing them. He has to be sensitive to their feelings. He has to be careful about his own image and his own safety," said retired Lt. Gen. Talat Masood. "The trouble is Kayani cannot face his troops unless the Americans give a very strong statement that this was a genuine mistake, apologize and compensate in a very big way."
Saturday's strikes added to popular anger in Pakistan against the U.S.-led coalition presence in Afghanistan. Many in the army, parliament, general population and media already believed that the U.S. and NATO are hostile to Pakistan and that the Afghan Taliban are not the enemy.
"Whoever is a friend of America is a traitor to the land," some 400 members of Jamaat-e-Dawa, an alleged front group for the militant Lashkar-e-Taiba organization, chanted in a demonstration in Karachi, the country's biggest city.
Washington views Islamabad as key to bringing about a reconciliation to end the decade-long Afghan war and allow the United States and its NATO partners to complete a military withdrawal by 2014.
If Pakistan bows out of the peace process, it "would hugely complicate the reconciliation process," said the senior U.S. official.
He said, however, that "it wouldn't be fatal. We would have to become all the more covert to deal with Afghans on this side of the border and it is also a fact that Pakistan does not have 100 percent control over Mullah Omar and his men nor does Pakistan have the Haqqanis on that tight a leash."
He was referring to the Taliban leader, who is believed to be hiding in Pakistan, and the Haqqani network, an insurgent group that operates from the country's lawless tribal areas.
For Pakistan a break in ties risks an end to billions of dollars in U.S. military and development aid.
But an aid cutoff may affect the military less than Pakistan's civilian government, say senior Pakistani security officials. They say military aid under the Coalition Support Fund has been erratic and that Washington routinely holds up payments.
Science & Technology
November 28, 2011
New Plant-Eating Dinosaur Species Identified
A 66-million-year-old partial skeleton discovered in Saskatchewan has been confirmed as a new species of plant-eating dinosaur.
November 28, 2011
Canada May Pull Out of Kyoto Accord, Report Says
Canada dismissed the Kyoto Protocol on climate change on Monday as a thing of the past, but declined to confirm a media report it will formally pull out of the international treaty before the end of this year.
November 28, 2011
U.S. Seizes 150 Websites in Cyber Monday Counterfeit Crackdown
The Department of Justice used blockbuster shopping event Cyber Monday to announce the blockbuster seizure of 150 websites that had been selling counterfeit goods, the agency announced Monday.
November 28, 2011
Will Microsoft Motion-Sensing TVs Go Head-to-Head With Apple 'iTV'?
Amazon could have a smartphone on store shelves by the fourth quarter of next year, according to Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney.
November 28, 2011
Best Cyber Monday Tech Deals
Looking to get a bargain this holiday? Give thanks not for extra helpings of turkey and stuffing but for Cyber Monday, when the world's retailers roll out their biggest bargains to entice you to spend -- and come back for seconds.
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November 27, 2011
Russian President Threatens to Punish Officials for Space Failures
The Russian president threatened to punish those responsible for the country's recent space failures, which included the botched launch of a Mars probe earlier this month.
November 27, 2011
Military Tech in Action
Our picks of the best new images of the military in action, highlighting the technology that the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines deal with every day.
November 27, 2011
The Geek Squad Fixes Your Hard Drive, Wireless, Sleep Issues and More
Home entertainment setup? Internet problems? Looking to get more out of your iPhone? You've got the tech questions, the Geek Squad has tech answers.
November 23, 2011
Mars Rover Curiosity: The Red Planet's Next Explorer
After nearly a decade of planning, cost overruns and delays, NASA is finally set to launch what scientists consider the most technically capable rover ever sent to another planet.
New Plant-Eating Dinosaur Species Identified
A 66-million-year-old partial skeleton discovered in Saskatchewan has been confirmed as a new species of plant-eating dinosaur.
November 28, 2011
Canada May Pull Out of Kyoto Accord, Report Says
Canada dismissed the Kyoto Protocol on climate change on Monday as a thing of the past, but declined to confirm a media report it will formally pull out of the international treaty before the end of this year.
November 28, 2011
U.S. Seizes 150 Websites in Cyber Monday Counterfeit Crackdown
The Department of Justice used blockbuster shopping event Cyber Monday to announce the blockbuster seizure of 150 websites that had been selling counterfeit goods, the agency announced Monday.
November 28, 2011
Will Microsoft Motion-Sensing TVs Go Head-to-Head With Apple 'iTV'?
Amazon could have a smartphone on store shelves by the fourth quarter of next year, according to Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney.
November 28, 2011
Best Cyber Monday Tech Deals
Looking to get a bargain this holiday? Give thanks not for extra helpings of turkey and stuffing but for Cyber Monday, when the world's retailers roll out their biggest bargains to entice you to spend -- and come back for seconds.
FEATURED STORIES
November 27, 2011
Russian President Threatens to Punish Officials for Space Failures
The Russian president threatened to punish those responsible for the country's recent space failures, which included the botched launch of a Mars probe earlier this month.
November 27, 2011
Military Tech in Action
Our picks of the best new images of the military in action, highlighting the technology that the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines deal with every day.
November 27, 2011
The Geek Squad Fixes Your Hard Drive, Wireless, Sleep Issues and More
Home entertainment setup? Internet problems? Looking to get more out of your iPhone? You've got the tech questions, the Geek Squad has tech answers.
November 23, 2011
Mars Rover Curiosity: The Red Planet's Next Explorer
After nearly a decade of planning, cost overruns and delays, NASA is finally set to launch what scientists consider the most technically capable rover ever sent to another planet.
Science & Technology
Science & Technology
November 28, 2011
New Plant-Eating Dinosaur Species Identified
A 66-million-year-old partial skeleton discovered in Saskatchewan has been confirmed as a new species of plant-eating dinosaur.
November 28, 2011
Canada May Pull Out of Kyoto Accord, Report Says
Canada dismissed the Kyoto Protocol on climate change on Monday as a thing of the past, but declined to confirm a media report it will formally pull out of the international treaty before the end of this year.
November 28, 2011
U.S. Seizes 150 Websites in Cyber Monday Counterfeit Crackdown
The Department of Justice used blockbuster shopping event Cyber Monday to announce the blockbuster seizure of 150 websites that had been selling counterfeit goods, the agency announced Monday.
November 28, 2011
Will Microsoft Motion-Sensing TVs Go Head-to-Head With Apple 'iTV'?
Amazon could have a smartphone on store shelves by the fourth quarter of next year, according to Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney.
November 28, 2011
Best Cyber Monday Tech Deals
Looking to get a bargain this holiday? Give thanks not for extra helpings of turkey and stuffing but for Cyber Monday, when the world's retailers roll out their biggest bargains to entice you to spend -- and come back for seconds.
November 28, 2011
New Plant-Eating Dinosaur Species Identified
A 66-million-year-old partial skeleton discovered in Saskatchewan has been confirmed as a new species of plant-eating dinosaur.
November 28, 2011
Canada May Pull Out of Kyoto Accord, Report Says
Canada dismissed the Kyoto Protocol on climate change on Monday as a thing of the past, but declined to confirm a media report it will formally pull out of the international treaty before the end of this year.
November 28, 2011
U.S. Seizes 150 Websites in Cyber Monday Counterfeit Crackdown
The Department of Justice used blockbuster shopping event Cyber Monday to announce the blockbuster seizure of 150 websites that had been selling counterfeit goods, the agency announced Monday.
November 28, 2011
Will Microsoft Motion-Sensing TVs Go Head-to-Head With Apple 'iTV'?
Amazon could have a smartphone on store shelves by the fourth quarter of next year, according to Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney.
November 28, 2011
Best Cyber Monday Tech Deals
Looking to get a bargain this holiday? Give thanks not for extra helpings of turkey and stuffing but for Cyber Monday, when the world's retailers roll out their biggest bargains to entice you to spend -- and come back for seconds.
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