American troops and intelligence agencies have been allowed to operate, discretely, inside Pakistan.

This implies to me that US troops are running around with guns, shooting them, and killing folks. All more than they’re allowed to do in Germany, Canada, the Phillipines, Mexico, etc.

Neither you nor I have any information that US troops are operating independently inside Pakistan – I suspect they are not, but rather, like in most other countries, US officials who want to pursue or arrest terrorists inside Pakistan must consult with Pakistani authorities who make the actual arrest. In rare cases, US officials may accompany Pakistani police or military in pursuing the terrorists, but they are prohibited by both US and Pakistani law and policy from doing so independently. The article you cite said US authorities operated “discreetly” – not independently – than there’s a huge difference. US authorities operate discreetly, in cooperation with the host government, in most countries of the world.

Likewise we do not know that the drone was actually flying inside Pakistani territory. Perhaps it was, but if so I imagine it had clearance from Pakistani controllers to be where it was, and if so it probably also at Pakistani authorization to engage the terrorist target.

In one story, they mistakenly crossed the border and came close to causing an international incident.

Drones may be allowed to fly over Pak territory, but ground troops are another, more sensitive, matter. The article suggests that only drones were operating in Pak border territory, with the interrogators operating in the cities and well under the watchful eye of Pakistan’s authority.

It is much easier to give permission to an American plane flying several thousand feet in the air than it is for a uniformed soldier on the ground.

Shouldn’t that be ‘policing east of the border’?