Some of you already know me from my time on air at WPGU 107.1 under my DJ name, Ranger. To those of you who are meeting me for the first time, I spent five years in the United States Army as a member of the 75th Ranger Regiment, Special Operations light infantry.

I had two combat tours to Afghanistan with the Rangers and am still in the National Guard as an infantry instructor. With this unique perspective to the war on terror, I add this; I have friends overseas, and the tattoo on my right arm is a testament to brothers of mine who did not come home.

A large problem for the coalition I once fought with in Afghanistan finally came to a head this week. Insurgent fighters can cross the border with near impunity while the coalition troops, lead by the United States, have to stop once it reaches a set of coordinates on a map. Acting on intelligence, the United States launched an air strike into the rough tribal region of Northwest Pakistan.

While the Pakistani government has paid lip service to international forces and their quests to bring terrorists to justice, they have hardly done anything to stop the flow of men and equipment coming out of their country. It has been widely reported, almost from the start of the campaign in Afghanistan, that terrorists routinely launch mortar and rocket attacks from inside Pakistan at troops located near the border. All that our men and women can do is hunker down in their bunkers and hope they are not hit, because to fire at the enemy in Pakistan would mean causing an international incident.

Finally, the United States has said enough is enough by authorizing the first air strike into Pakistani territory last week. I do not know what specific intelligence lead to the ordering of a go mission, but knowing a little of how the process works, I can say with absolute certainty that Al Qaeda top deputy commander, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was not only in that village in Pakistan within 24 hours of launching of the attack. It was confirmed by more than one person or intelligence source.

The backlash is coming fast and furious but the United States has finally sent the right message. We value the security of our people and of the world above protests of governments that either publicly or tacitly support terrorists. We are now saying we value the lives of our service members and of coalition allies and pursuing justice more than the supposed friendship of a government that has done almost nothing to help in our quest to rid the world of Al Qaeda.

My one concern is that we attacked via air strike and because of this we caused unnecessary civilian casualties. If the intelligence was good enough to warrant an attack, they should have sent ground troops and done the job the right way. Even in our pursuit of terrorists and those who seek to do us harm, we still have an obligation to protect the innocent. We should have done a better job honoring that.

Still, the air strike was a step in the right direction. Early reports coming out of Pakistan and published in the New York Times are indicating that many of Zawahiri’s aides were killed or wounded in the attack – an outcome that more than justifies the attack.

With these actions we have also given the Pakistani government a choice: clean your own house or risk the world doing it for you. If we are truly committed to eradicating terrorism, we must reserve the option of launching a small scale raid, an invasion, if evidence indicates terrorist activity. The cost of inaction, as we have seen through Sept. 11, and our friends in Madrid, London, and Bali have felt through bombings on their own soil, is simply too high to ignore.

Tom Amenta is a sophomore in LAS. His column appears on Mondays. He can be reached at [email protected].