so as to neutralize the growing anti-American sentiments sweeping across the restive region along the Afghanistan border

In my opinion, as long as the Pushtuns in this region keep agreeing that this IS the Afghanistan border, then we should shut up and thank our lucky stars.

This is not corporate branding we're doing. Economic development is the only thing that's going to stem the tide of terrorism and extremism and obliterate the threat of a Pushtun nationalist movement -- something that could destroy Pakistan entirely.

If we achieve those goals, then who cares about branding? Branding is so beside the point here, really. What matters is that the development is happening. It's the fact of the development, not the logo on the development, that is going to turn things in our favor.

Case in point -- look what economic development done for the "Irish problem." Anyone in London killed by an IRA bomb lately? Has Ulster been an issue lately? Have any Irish terrorists been demanding its return?

The economy has become so strong there that interest in reuniting Ireland has all but died away.

And now the U.S. is not even allowed to take credit for the schools it helps to build? Shouldn't someone be held accountable?

The geniuses who put together the Durrand Treaty ought to be thanked for this awful mess, but since they're dead, I guess that's no longer possible.

Then there's Nixon and his buddy the Shah of Iran, who helped overthrow the Afghan monarchy and replace it with a dictator who lusted after northern Pakistan and sacrificed the economic development of Afghanistan to chase his nationalist dream.

And then there's the Soviet Union. We can thank the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan for the fact that northern Pakistan became overrun with tribal Afghan Pushtuns who didn't believe Pakistan was a legitimate political entity.

And there's America. We already established a strong USA brand presence in the border regions during the Soviet-Afghan war. We empowered the Afghan refugees who flowed across the border into Pakistan -- the ones who didn't believe that Pakistan ought to exist.

But we empowered them with Stringer missiles, not with schools or dams or hospitals. Oops.

And then how did they thank us? Their children all joined the Taliban and flowed back into Afghanistan and turned Afghanistan into a safe haven for the Arabs in Al Qaeda. Oops.

Accountability? Come on, get real. Removal of the USA logo is about the least significant accountability issue you can find in this mess.

Right now I think we need to suck it up, keep our eyes on the prize, get those little kids educated, get their parents gainfully employed, and wait patiently for the magic of economic development to do its work.

Benazir Bhutto was an official Taliban supporter in 1996. She helped them get money and arms so they could take over Afghanistan.

She proudly helped to create the problem she's now angrily blaming Musharraf for having failed to solve.

I think we should forget about national branding and Pakistani politics and just focus on economic development and pray that this will eventually turn things around the way it helped turn things around for the Irish terrorism problem.

When Paul Bremer was Viceroy of Iraq he needed a little "walkin' around money." So Rummy went to the Treasury Secretary next door to the White House and they told the mint to stop what they were doing and start making $8 billion dollars in crisp $100 bills.

Oh, and uh, we need all that loot put on wooden pallets and shrink-wrapped in plastic. And so the mint made $8 billion in Ben Franklins and put the loot on pallets.

But there was a problem. Turns out $8 billion dollars in $100 bills is a lot of damned paper and ink and the mint quickly had to put in an emergency order for more paper and ink.

By the time they were done each pallet weighed in at a half a ton. They had lots of pallets. The pallets got shipped to Andrews AFB outside D.C. and were loaded into the belly of our biggest cargo aircraft, the C5A and sent to Baghdad.

The C5A dropped its ramp and a bunch of trucks pulled up and drove away without so much as a signed receipt. The GAO is still trying to find out where that money went. It simply disappeared.

I'll tell ya, sometimes you just have to laugh. It's all you can do.

Are going to be childish then there's no hope. I don't see rock throwing teenagers tearing off their Nike logo t-shirts. Where on Allah's blighted earth do they think this stuff comes from? A long time ago I discovered that the guy in the street screaming Yanqui Go Home, wants you to take him with you.