The Taliban Doesn't Have Helicopters

In the recent downturn in relations between the USA and Pakistan over the death of 24 Pakistani soldiers on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, a US official talking to the WSJ points out the big, giant, obvious gaping hole in the Pakistani government's version of events:

"There was absolutely no malicious, deliberate attack on the Pakistani military posts," a U.S. defense official said.

Other American officials said the Pakistani military should have known from the presence of helicopters used to ferry in the combined U.S.-Afghan commando force that Americans were in the area.

"If you hear American helicopters why would you lob mortars and machine gun fire at them? The Pakistanis can say we thought it was insurgents, except for the fact that the Taliban doesn't have helicopters," said the U.S. official.

Note to Pakistani military forces: if you shoot at Americans, they will shoot back and you will probably die. So stop trying.