The allegations against Pakistan are false. They are based on anti-Pakistan bigotry and the failed policies perpetuated in the past few years. President Bush, and Prime Minister Tony Blair have repeatedly praised Pakistan for her fight against terrorism. Pakistan is a founding member of SEATO, and CENTO and was a frontline state against the USSR. Pakistan is a Non-Nato Ally (NNA) and a cold war ally. This week Pakistan suffered many blasts first initiated by the USSR and Afghanistan against Pakistan during the first Afghan war. Neither Pakistan, nor Pakistanis nor President Musharraf signed up to indentured servitude to anyone. Friendship is a two way street, and the anti-Pakistan government in Kabul is an impediment to a NATO victory and peace in Pakistan.

When an anti-Pakistan government was installed in Kabul, surely Pakistanis were not happy. The geo-strategic interests of Pakistan have to be taken into account. Neither the government, nor the people of Pakistan have signed up for indentured servitude to carry on the follies of a broken foreign policy that supports an incompetent and corrupt non-representative non-Pushton, minority “government” (actually institutionalized narco-warlordism) in Kabul. The NATO troops are teething on annihilation by the anti-occupation insurgent (wrongly labeled as "Talibaan"). All of Afghanistan is in revolt against the “occupiers”. All this has created immense problems for Pakistan, and Pakistanis are not too happy fighting Pakistanis......neither Musharraf nor anyone else supports Pakistanis fighting Pakistanis. The Tribal areas are "tribal". They joined Pakistan under treaty obligations that allowed them total autonomy...that was the deal for joining the Federation. They have helped Pakistan for the past 60 years. The articles of the confederation of the constitution of Pakistan cannot be changed because of failed US policies in Afghanistan. NATO and America needs to build peace by wining the hearts and minds of Afghans not by cluster bombs and missiles.

President Ayub Khan wrote a book called “Friends Not Masters”. Pakistanis value friendship not servitude. Pakistanis are not the “little brown boys” or slaves. Pakistan is a proud nation of 160 million people on the way to progress and prosperity. It is the 4th largest country on earth, and deserves respect. Pakistan has nuclear bombs and missiles to deliver them to all corners of the globe.

Blaming someone else for the Neocon inspired foreign policy failures is a favorite pastime of losers in the USA. Blame China for the problems in North Korea, blame Libya for the issues in Chad, Blame Cuba for the anti-Amricanism in Venezuela, blame Iran for the fiasco in Iran, blame the Palestinians for the war in Israel, and blame Pakistan for the incompetence of the puppet Vichi like Karzai war lordsims misnamed a “government” and the failures of NATO in Afghanistan. You can fool some of the people all the time, all the people some of the time, but not all the people all the time. The American people see thorough the smoke screen of demonizing all Muslims everywhere. America and world recognizes that the failed Neocon policies will not get better by blaming others.

The government needs honest people right now. Go back to work for the government, please.

Sure, radical Islamists hate our culture and free-ish society, but we turned the heat up with years of interference and invasion into the Middle East.

Now we're making enemies hand over fist, people who wouldn't have been motivated to take up arms until we tried to do a smackdown in Iraq.

Until we get straight what the motivations really are, we're going to continue to make horrible mistakes that only make the situation worse.

Having been immediately alerted to the kind of macho man we're dealing with here (who in their right mind would even consider punching a shark? What the hell for?) alarm bells jangled when he advocated sending troops into the North West Frontier to just sort the whole damn place out.

Wonderfull! What a great solution, I wonder why nobody ever thought of it before? (But then I never would have thought of punching a shark, either ... ) It shows amazing foresight, and in view of the way things are going in Iraq and Afghanistan right now, seems to be a 'text-book' solution. Bound to bring the locals around to our way of thinking; just a few bombs and they always see the sense in abandoning their tribal culture.

Jeez. Typical CIA tactics. And they've always worked. Right?

I can't wait until this unstable country becomes an Islamic republic.

in that part of the world, it really doesn't matter what the paper says, it's about how the people behave. When it's in their interest to behave in a certain way, they behave that way. When it isn't, they don't.

...Hmm...papers...Geneva Convention...Constitution...Human Rights.

"In that part of the world"...Wait ! He's talking about the USA, right ?

And apologies to both Krongard and the that-day shark for writing "bunch" for "punch". Guess my own hard-hittingness abilities were a bit low -- see impossible length of previous sentence, "for the which" I apologise to any/all who tried to read my post.

Way past time for me to Get Out of Chat Rooms, for now!

:-)

salonmarte again

I came to this interview in quite a different frame of mind from that of the previous four post-ers and want to express my heartfelt appreciation for this piece.

By now I'm used to being either "the" or "a" (depending on the number of responders) Maverick if I post here but wotthehey.

My online-with-my-computer morning started with reading a post I regularly get from a source called Knowledge News, which refreshed and encouraged me vastly because it was objective and informational in its explorations of the "who"s and the "what"s of branches of Islamic fundamentalism as well as the history, geography and ethnic makeup of the Pashtun Afghanistan/Pakistan border area. Knowledge News is not "an opinion" source and this morning I enormously appreciated its so-to-say ?dispassion?.

My today's Salon.com page also features an interpretive article on the latest NEI report and its political context/connotations, by Sidney Blumenthal. Sidney Blumenthal and I are by what (in description of myself only here) I sometimes call "knee jerk"/temperament bias[es] combined with whatever degree(s) at differing times of attempted ?"dispassionate"? (*), i.e. objective study and information gathering and hard-headed no-holds-barred conclusions and presentation/interpretation of conclusions, "horses of the same color" (to considerable extent, any way).

A.B. Krongard (whom I immediately Googled when I got to Alex Koppelman's bunch-the-white-shark line [:-)]) could not possibly be described that way. And Krongard was the guy I needed to hear this morning. No holds barred, factual and -- by comparison with many of us erstwhile writers, self-expression enthusiasts wouldbe psychologizers etc. -- not self-serving. His answers to Alex Koppelman's queries are factual and succinct and beautifully devoid of the let-me-tell-you-all-about-myself tone of so much of the blogosphere. I consider it a personal privilege to "meet this man" in the form of this interview.

So here's a Vote of One (so far as to this article, any way) of thanks to Salon editors for your choice of what is "fair and balanced" [?! L-)] "news reporting". And thanks to Alex Koppelman and to "Buzzy" Krongard.

salonmarte