And Governor Ghani even suggested that if the raids continue, the U.S. supply line to Afghanistan -- 80 percent of which flows through Pakistan -- would be at risk.
One official recently told reporters that Bajaur was a "litmus test" for the Pakistani military, a fight that would signal to the United States whether forces here are willing and able to wrestle the tribal areas away from the militants.
Bajaur is also a division between the two militaries that goes beyond the debate over whether the United States should launch attacks inside Pakistan.
The United States has struck at least eight times inside Pakistan this month -- all in South or North Waziristan, where al Qaeda's senior leadership is believed to be hiding. For the Pakistanis, though, Bajaur is the main fight -- and implicit in their analysis of Bajaur is criticism of the United States' approach to the region.
"One has to prioritize the bigger threat. Is a compound in South Waziristan or North Waziristan a bigger threat? Or is Bajaur, which has become a huge stronghold of all the militants -- al Qaeda, Talibans, local, foreign Talibans, and radiating, threatening attacks in all direction -- is it to be dealt first?" asked Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, the military's chief spokesman. "We had to prioritize, and yes, Bajaur required an operation in a very urgent way and that's why we decided to go against Bajaur."
But Pakistan's military knows it will be judged by a skeptical United States on whether it can complete this mission successfully.
Khan, the inspector general of the frontier corps, acknowledged that in the past, the military was not allowed to complete some of its missions, most notably one in South Waziristan that left the regional Taliban leader stronger than ever.
This time, he said, would be different, because much more is at stake."
"What would be terribly wrong would be to pull up this operation short of its logical conclusion ... or worse case scenario, we don't make any headway and we stop the operation, don't succeed. It would be a terrible disaster," he said. "This militancy would enhance. ... And it would start expanding."
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