Bill Roggio does Pakistan

Mon, 04/13/2009 - 11:02am

He says the Pakistani ambassador is blowing smoke. Sure, that may be in the envoy's job description, but Bill's take is worth reading. (Hat Tip to Attackerman)

Meanwhile, Dawn has a Pakistani official firing this shot across the bow of the USS Richard Holbrooke, which I believe to be a unique steam-driven amphibious bulldozer:

The ties are in a very delicate stage and there are very few options left for both the allies - either to concede some ground to the other or to enter an all out confrontation," a diplomatic source opined adding things may worsen in days ahead because the Americans are known to be bad listeners and have an inclination for 'bulldozing' the matters."

J.D. Pooley/Getty Images

Thomas E. Ricks | Permalink | | Comments? Login or register
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The heart of the problem,

by fpcomments on Mon, 04/13/2009 - 11:30am

The heart of the problem, from Pakistan's perspective, is the drone attacks. This came up repeatedly at Holbrooke's joint press conference in Islamabad last week. The drone attacks allow the bad guys to justify their own agenda of violence. And even those who hate the bad guys don't buy the U.S. rhetoric that everybody's in this fight together against a common enemy. It simply doesn't resonate when America is seen to be attacking their sovereignty.

Megadittoes on drones

by tom ricks on Mon, 04/13/2009 - 11:53am

Yes, I recently heard David Kilcullen speak about this. He explained why he against the drone attacks in Pakistan. As I recall it, he said that if your sole object is to kill al Qaeda and Taliban leaders, then drone strikes make sense. But if your strategic goal is to prevent Pakistan from falling apart, then the strikes do not make sense.

Americans are "bad listeners"

by Djuha on Mon, 04/13/2009 - 1:29pm

Americans are "bad listeners" because they have grown tired of being lied to by double-talking Pakistani governments. The time for telling the US what it wants to hear while continuing to support militants in Afghanistan, Kashmir, and India should be OVER. Pakistan has been given billions of dollars and 7 years to do something and it has chosen not too, it is now time to make them do something. If that rankles Pakistani official sensibilities, well too bad.

Those who claim that the US has no leverage over Pakistan are unimaginative at best. A slight wind will not cause the Pakistani state to collapse. Those state institutions that claim to be holding the country together(especially ISI), are in fact huge contributors to the problem and need to be reformed or destroyed.