Pakistan not happy

[ProSense]

Pakistan slams 'ignorant' Obama attack warning

Thu Aug 2, 6:28 AM ET

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan accused Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama of "sheer ignorance" for threatening to launch US military strikes against Al-Qaeda on Pakistani soil.

Obama warned Wednesday that if he is elected president, he would order US forces to hit extremist targets on Pakistan's frontier with Afghanistan if embattled military ruler President Pervez Musharraf failed to act.

"Such statements are being made out of sheer ignorance," Pakistan's Minister of State for Information, Tariq Azeem, told AFP. "They are not fully apprised about the ground realities and not aware of the efforts by Pakistan."

Islamabad has bristled against a string of similar threats in recent weeks by the administration of US President George W. Bush, whose top counter-terror official in July refused to rule out US strikes in Pakistan.

Musharraf, struggling to contain a wave of Islamist violence unleashed by the army's bloody storming of the radical Red Mosque in Islamabad three weeks ago, himself firmly rejected any US action last week.

"We have said before that we will not allow anyone to infringe our sovereignty," Azeem said.

"If there is any actionable intelligence they should tell us and only our forces will take action on it and they are quite capable of it."

The minister suggested that Obama's comments were prompted by Washington's inability to curb the ongoing Taliban insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan, where US-led forces toppled the hardline regime in late 2001.

"This seems to be a reaction to their own failure in Afghanistan to control the US casualties and instead of addressing the situation there, they are finding scapegoats and damaging their own cause," Azeem added.

link

Congress passes legislation to tie U.S. aid to Pakistan to progress against al-Qaida

The Associated Press
Published: July 27, 2007

WASHINGTON: U.S. aid to Pakistan would be tied to Islamabad's efforts to stop al-Qaida, the Taliban and other anti-Western extremist organizations from operating in its territory, under legislation expected to pass Congress on Friday.

The Pakistan aid provision was part of a package of security provisions for the United States recommended by the independent commission that studied U.S. government actions before and after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The Senate passed the bill Thursday night. The House of Representatives approved the measure Friday and sent it to President George W. Bush for his signature. The provisions would take effect Oct. 1, the start of the U.S. budget year.

Bush would have to report to Congress that Pakistan is making progress in combating al-Qaida and the Taliban before any aid could be disbursed.

In a National Intelligence Estimate released last week, U.S. analysts stressed the importance of al-Qaida's increasingly comfortable hideout in Pakistan that has resulted from a hands-off accord between President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Pakistani tribal leaders along the Afghan border.

more

[TwilightGardener]

1. So...Obama isn't saying anything that the administration hasn't already

publicly said about Pakistan? Why all the hoopla then?

[jsamuel]

2. Daniel Markey

"But in the diplomatic sense it's unfortunate because it sends a message about our relationship with Pakistan that undercuts the partnership we're trying to build. It says that we don't trust Musharraf, even when it comes to hitting the top leadership of al-Qaeda - the very group that has tried to assassinate him on multiple occasions."

[ripple]

3. Well, we DON'T trust Musharraf

Or at least most of us don't.

[ProSense]

4. Kick! n/t

[ProSense]

5. Kick! n/t

[maximusveritas]

6. That's good news

sounds like they got the message

[Clintonista2]

7. "Got the message" ... wow

People like you are the reason the US has such a horrible international reputation. People like you are the reason terrorists fly planes into US buildings. There is no difference between a terrorist and a bully- both seek to influence events via fear- and you, are a bully.

[rinsd]

8. Yeah Bring 'em on

:eyes:

[Ethelk2044]

9. They will get over it.

[Clintonista2]

10. You would be singing a different tune if Pakistan invaded America

...And you wonder why most of the international community thinks of Americans as arrogant. :eyes:

[Progressive Friend]

11. Pakistan was sure happy with supporting the mujahideen in the 1980s though

The extremists who the US government and Pakistan organized to overthrow the secular, revolutionary government in Afghanistan would go on to become the Taliban and Al Queda. Pakistan's ISI (intelligence agency) likely still has close ties with both. It is also known that the CIA was working with Albanian separatist groups with ties to Al Queda as late as the summer of 2001 in Macedonia (a former Yugoslav republic).

[Mass]

12. Pakistan was unhappy each time Democrats have been critical of them,

which has been quite a few times this year. Nothing new.

[zulchzulu]

13. Good! Clinton and Edwards agree with Obama's statements...

Musharraf is a stooge. Shake his tree. We give him plenty of money yet he still allows those that would want us to go back to the 7th Century to build up and try to kill us.

He's no friend.

[PurityOfEssence]

14. Sometimes it's not what you say as much as what it seems you say

Since it's so damned hard to figure out just what Mr. Obama IS saying at any one point, what we're left with is a whole bunch of seemings.

Their government is an ostensible ally and is a secular military dictatorship that's trying to keep a WHOLE BUNCH of very dangerous fantasists from seizing power. Musharraf's hold on power is anything but obvious or solid, and they've got nukes. What would the local zealots do if they got their wicked little hands on those bombs? They'd use 'em, that's what.

Sloppy pronouncements like this can have unexpected consequences.

One of the first rules of life is "never kick a skunk".

It's not just the big meanie media that's stirred up this ruckus, it's also the gentleman from Illinois himself who gave them the opportunity.

Of the many qualifications for the job of president, one important one is "finesse". Other important ones are "restraint" and "clarity".

If Musharraf isn't "doing enough" to please Mr. Obama, perhaps it's still all he really CAN do at the moment. It would be interesting to know just what Obama knows at this point, but regardless of that, to tweak the nose of a crucial ally who's in a very precarious position isn't way up on the subtleometer.

[jsamuel]

15. bingo

[laugle]

16. This illustrates the complexities of foreign policy and

the need for crucial experience in this area, and not just phony bravado, reminiscent of the demented one in the WH.

Just like Bush, BO needs to realize there are major consequences to his rhetoric.