A soldier shares his post on a lawless border

Pakistan said Tuesday that an American drone fired two missiles at a house near the Afghan border, killing three people. Just last week U.S. officials accused Pakistan of supporting terrorists who cross from Pakistan into Afghanistan to fight American troops.

One of the reasons U.S. troops are fighting in Afghanistan after nearly ten years is the lawless border with Pakistan.

CBS News correspondent Willem Marx visited the region, and reports that the enemy finds it easy to operate there.

Army Lieutenant Andrew Brundson, from Boulder, Colo., climbed up to visit his men at a tiny outpost overlooking the border that separates Afghanistan from Pakistan.

"I want to be here. I want to be on the edge of it. I want to be where the rubber meets the road. I want to be on the border," Brundson said.

Brundson's men, with the 172nd Infantry Brigade, are searching for an enemy they can rarely touch. The enemy uses Pakistan, just over the border, as a haven to recruit, rearm and regroup.

CBSNews.com special report: Afghanistan

"Often times, if a man slips across the border, though we could pursue him, though it's within our weapons and the capability of our men, it's not what we do because this is the border region. We try, as much as possible to stay on our side of it," Brundson said.

These American soldiers may be the only ones "staying on their side." The border is unmarked, mostly unguarded. The tribesmen on both sides are Pashtun - one culture, one language.

"For us it's a matter of finding a needle in a haystack, finding where they are coming in across the mountain range. We have to make sure that when we see them we can identify that they are indeed insurgents and not just a nomad goat-herder moving across the border," Brundson said.

Every few days, the militants fire rockets at the U.S. base. The Americans fire back. But most often the enemy escapes to safety in Pakistan. Lieutenant Brundson knows people back home debate this war, and he told us this.

"I'm glad people question it. I hope they continue to do so. I question it myself and when I question it I come to the conclusion that this is an important thing to be doing. This is an important place to be. This is something that is worthy of my efforts, this is worthy of the risks my men are taking," Brundson said.

There is risk taking we can't see from here, such as strikes by U.S. special forces and CIA drones. But in these vast mountains, with outposts few and far between, the enemy moves easily across a border only the Americans choose to recognize.

[stargngerthanfiction]

People need to understand that the people of Pakistan have NOTHING against the Americans if anyone says otherwise its hog wash.
the problem is that American Administrations have continued to support Dictators or corrupt politicians in Pakistan.like the recent corruption in Pakistan which without America's blessings would not have come into effect;the NRO (national reconciliation ordinance) which basically let corrupt politicians and criminals fill their pockets with "American aid money" and walk away.

[stargngerthanfiction]

People need to understand that the people of Pakistan have NOTHING against the Americans if anyone says otherwise its hog wash.
the problem is that American Administration have continued to support Dictators or corrupt politicians in Pakistan.like the recent corruption in Pakistan which without America's blessings would not have come into effect;the NRO (national reconciliation ordinance) which basically let corrupt politicians and criminals fill their pockets with "American aid money" and walk away.

[Dgunner]

Washington is full of cowards that fear for thier job security.Plain and simple . I think they really don't know what to do with the two faced rag heads in pakistan so we just keep giving them money.Why we keep pretending to be thier allies is beyond me and millions of other americans who are paying for this war.If the true americans just quit paying taxes ? What can the US government do to them ? on a scale so large the american govt. couldn't do a damed thing but beg please start paying your taxes again?

[mysteriousjz]

Cheap propaganda with new lows yet against another country........

[DNRodgers]

You wouldn't be commenting that way if YOUR son was over there.

[brnfream]

Withdraw all American aid to Pakistan. Remove our troops from Afghanistan and stop the money train and let those idiots do unto each other as they wish. Keep them out of America and let them reap as they sow.

[bajajohn1]

Pakistan is a lousy ally, if they are an ally at all.