[quote]Sloth wrote:
Maybe if we weren’t screwing around in Iraq…[/quote]
Maybe if he-roin didn’t exist. Or if al-Qaeda didn’t know it was all about he-roin empires, tsk tsk … Or the Pakis …
[quote]lixy wrote:
jj-dude wrote:
[…]
I know I’m gonna get flamed for this…
– jj
That was a mouthful.
It’s 2am around here, so I’ll be brief.
[/quote]
Lixy, read the first bit of my post please!!
We’ve been regaled with enough patently silly theories about the Iraq war (oh sure, Bush is in it for the money. Riiiiight).
What I was trying to do was give a synopsis of what – near as I can tell – the actual internal thinking in the State Dept. and military was at the time. Obviously neither I or nor pretty much anyone on this list is privy to what went on, but it is a heck of a lot more instructive to try and look at it from their strategic view rather than comfortable moralizing.
I figured nobody would read that part of the post and would just go ballistic on the points I outlined. Does this mean I’m psychic?
Now, people, those of you that follow such discussions in earnest, do these seem like a good summation of US strategic thinking on Iraq ca. 2003? I’m more than open to having my errors pointed out (flaming me, while doubtless therapeutic, still won’t answer my question).
– jj
Musharraf allows A Q Khan to meet close friends
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200802051654.htm
" … a majority of his scientist colleagues are virtually under house arrest and are not allowed to leave their homes."
http://newspostindia.com/report-35213
[b]" … any observer of Pakistan without sympathy for his self-perpetuating agenda would frankly acknowledge the spectacular failure that General Musharraf’s eight years of rule have been on the very counts he himself had asked world leaders to track."[b]
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Pakistan-as-the-windpipe/268580/
About the only thing he has accomplished is keeping Khan away from the CIA.
Hey, no relations.
Gen Kayani said to be systematically reversing earlier policies
WASHINGTON: Gen Ashfaq Kayani, chief of army staff, according to a report published in the Christian Science Monitor on Tuesday, has �??begun to systematically reverse some of the most significant policies of his predecessor, President Pervez Musharraf.�??
Says the Monitor report field from Pakistan, �??The shift is welcome in Pakistan, too, where the interference of the military into public life was seen as reaching new heights under Musharraf, and the Army �?? long revered as Pakistan�??s bulwark �?? was falling into disrepute.
Gen Kayani reforms do not appear aimed at Musharraf personally, but rather at undoing the damage his predecessor did to the military�??s image. �??Under Musharraf, military officers were installed in many influential civilian posts, alienating Pakistanis, who saw this as an abuse of power. By recalling these people, Kayani is sending �??a very strong message�??,�?? says one Pakistani analyst quoted by the newspaper.
Senators Seek Analysis Of US Aid To Pakistan
“According to a Dec 24 New York Times article, Pakistan’s military relies on Washington for roughly a quarter of its entire $4 billion budget.”
http://newspostindia.com/report-35621
Media in Pakistan under threat again
[i]AAJ television suddenly vanished from cable networks in Islamabad and several other cities as it aired a popular politics and current affairs talk show, Tariq Chaudhry, Islamabad bureau chief for the network said.
‘‘We were not informed by any authority, nor did they warn us before this unannounced blackout,’’ Chaudhry said.[/i]
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080040607&ch=2/7/2008%208:28:00%20AM
Go now, army group orders Musharraf
Just two weeks after they first assembled on January 22 and wrote a resolution calling on Mr Musharraf to resign, the retired officers’ movement appears poised to take over where the lawyers’ movement, with its main leaders under house arrest, has stalled.