The End of US in Pakistan….
April 11, 2011, 6:49 pm
Posted by Margaret O'Brien Steinfels
…Or Smoke and Mirrors. The fraught relationship between Pakistan and the United States seems to have come acropper according to this story in the NYTimes. If the story is true than we should pack up in Afghanistan as well as Pakistan. But with the Pakistanis who knows what is true, what is spin, what is bubble, etc. about the CIA or the drone attacks or the two “intelligence” services.
Still, the key paragraph may be: “The Pakistani army firmly believes that Washington’s real aim in Pakistan is to neutralize the nation’s prized nuclear arsenal, which is now on a path to becoming the world’s fifth largest, said the Pakistani official closely involved in the decision on reducing the American presence.”
” — Washington’s real aim in Pakistan is to neutralize the nation’s prized nuclear arsenal, which is now on a path to becoming the world’s fifth largest, –”
As Washington’s goal damned well should be!
Let the India and Paks live with MAD for 60 years..leave Afghanistan by 7-4-11
Jimmy Mac:
As Washington’s goal damned well should be!
Indeed. I hope that my agreeing with you isn’t an embarrassment for you, but yes, that should be our goal.
Bob — all things are possible if you love The Lord and say “Amen!”
However, it is also true that all things are not probable.
Hope is built on possibility, not probabilty.
I keep thinking the responses here are somewhat oversimplified.
Clearly there is much to distrust in the Pakistan relationship -a relationship complicated much also by the India/Pakistan (non)relationship.
Concern about their nuclear arsenal and “neutralizing” it seems worthy, but how?
It’s part of a bigger problem of fast moving change across a lot of the Middle East and to some extent Africa and trying to deal diplomatically with not only untrustworthies in the Pakistan military/regime but Karzhai in Afghanistan and disengaging there while we noodle around with Libya/NATO, etc.
I’m not sure that “pack up” helps us understand the process of further disengagement as all of this tumbles along.
In the world of uncertainty, where we want the “certainty” of “end games,” is it posible that one can only have a firm sense of direction of goals while playing it by ear on specific manuvering??
One more thing: today a report of the pakistan/Afghanistan high level meeting to move toward reconcilib the Taliban.
US not present and another sign to “pack up?”
That’s how I read it. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/world/asia/17kabul.html?ref=world