How Far is to Far?

With the recent Presidential election happening only a week ago and the news of U.S. Special Forces conducting raids into Pakistan the question needs to be asked, just how far can a country go in the pursuit of terrorists and terrorist organizations. The one golden rule in international relations is that a country must respect another country’s sovereignty but in the pursuit of terrorist organizations that have no territory or borders is it ok for forces to pursue terrorists by disregarding a county’s sovereignty. In the last month President Bush has sent U.S. Special Forces into Pakistan to kill or capture terrorists that hide along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. In this area there are no real markers that depict the line of the border.

In the recent election President-elect Obama has said that he will actively seek out Osama Bin Laden and bring him to justice. But how far can one country go in pursuing a terrorist. With President Bush sending U.S. Special Forces into Pakistan he is committing an act of war under international law. This begins a slippery slope that no country wants to begin down. If a country is allowed to enter five miles to apprehend a terrorist then one country will push it to ten or twenty miles. For the pursuit of terrorists there needs to be no boundaries in order to bring them to justice but there also needs to be an international coalition of countries that are working together to ensure that no one country is abusing power and that a country’s sovereignty is respected.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2008/09/03/AR2008090300523.html