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I'm not too worried. Pakistan's politics generally work themselves out. It may not be to the American's liking, but the nukes are for India. Even a conservative Pakistani isn't going to get uppity and try to give nukes to terrorists. The chances of any Taliban running across the border and figuring out how to get to the disassembled nuke without the military noticing are rather unlikely. If Musharraf doesn't take control, Bhutto has a good position. She is popular among the higher-educated and liberals. I don't think all hell is breaking loose. Pakistan is ultimately run by the military, and they are relatively level headed as far as Islamic nations go.
Can I get one Nuke to go please? Lol... I doubt anything will happen to them... consider it a deterrent if the U.S. wants to try something.. I bet Iran really wants one pretty badly... "Go ahead make my day!"
All I know is that if there was this big of a commotion happening in Iran right now, we would have already launched attacks because of the threat of terrorist getting the nukes and attacking us because of our freedoms....*sarcasm*
Pakistan is one of those places where I draw a blank. I don't have the foggiest notion of what to think, what to hope for, or even what to fear.
Frankly, the thought of that many non-Arab Muslims pinned between India and Afghanistan sounds like a potential geopolitical train wreck of truly epic proportions. And they've got nukes, too.
I'm not too worried. While the masses in Pakistan are fairly anti-American in sentiment, the US is an important trading partner for them. Money talks. And the elites may have to be patriotic and not like the US too much, but they have to be realistic. Bhutto is fairly liberal, the only reason she lost power was because of corruption. The military there wields alot of power too, and while they cannot, because of patriotism be too pro-American, they at least are realists and alot of them have participated with the American military in various operations (for instance Pakistan was an important player in Somalia when the US was there with the UN).
Just an example but I was watching CNN and they were interviewing several government members under house arrest. When asked if the US should intervene, he said no, that the US should put pressure on the government- as a "patriot" he could not advocate the US overthrowing Musharraf. He was tiptoeing around a delicate subject, you could tell by the way he talked. Liking the US, and especially the US military too much would seem to be not "PC" in Pakistan.
I am more worried by the Islamic militants in the north that are slowly taking over cities than what is happening in the south.
Im not too worried either. The bad thing is, in the tactical picture, Pakistan's military is distracted and the Taliban on the mountains may take advantage of that. On the bright side both side of the political infighting in Pakistan are decidedly anti-taliban so the U.S. can work with both parties, whoever comes out on top in case it turns into a full blown coup.
Bhutto under house arrest. It's about time. The problem is, for a military dictatorship, Pakistan's Musharraf is almost too lenient. The U.S. is putting pressure on Pakistan to let Bhutto go but if I were Bush I wouldn't rush to Bhutto's aid too soon - It was under her rule that the Taliban got a foothold in the western mountains of Pakistan and her administration was ripe with corruption. Musharraf, even as a military dictator of sorts (with some free elections) is unfortunetly about as good as it gets in that part of the world. Economy is booming, trade is booming, and the U.S. has a good ally as long as he doesn't get himself assasinated, etc.
I'm waiting for deep throat to call. When and if he does, I'll let you know off-line.
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Originally Posted by Yeledaf
No surprise there -- except that it took so long.
I hear rumblings of an imminent Al Qaeda coup. Any confirmation of this?
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