Bush OK'd orders for raids in Pakistan

WASHINGTON - President Bush secretly approved orders in July that for the first time allow American Special Operations forces to carry out ground assaults inside Pakistan without the prior approval of the Pakistani government, according to senior American officials.

The classified orders mark a watershed for the Bush administration after nearly seven years of trying to work with Pakistan to combat Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters, and after months of high-level stalemate about how to confront the militants' increasingly secure base in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

American officials say they will notify Pakistan when they conduct limited ground attacks like the Special Operations raid last Wednesday in a Pakistani village near the Afghanistan border, but will not ask for its permission.

"The situation in the tribal areas is not tolerable," said a senior American official, who, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the missions. "We have to be more assertive. Orders have been issued."

Pakistan's top army officer said yesterday that his forces would not tolerate American operations like the one that took place last week and that the army would defend the country's sovereignty "at all costs."