The coming war with Pakistan

The government of Pakistan has made it perfectly clear that it will not tolerate violations of international law in the form of unwelcome American incursions into Pakistani territory.

Now that Governor Palin has...

....declared victory in Iraq one can only assume that we need a new war to keep us occupied and, by Jove, it seems we might have one. Perhaps this trouble is on the Iraq - Pakistan border. Maybe we should ask Senator McCain.

They never met an international law they couldn't break

Yesterday American forces, without the approval of the Pakistani government, violated Pakistani sovereignty and launched an attack in the North West Frontier province that killed between 10 and 20 people; many of them civilians according to local sources. Now it is impossible to argue that there are not significant problems in the lawless frontier area but this is no way to address them nor is it likely to convince the Pakistani government, now no longer lead by Captain Codpiece's beloved ex-General, to increase cooperation.

And the Eternal Global War on Terra runs on and on and on and on. Am I the only one who thinks that this lot would prefer this war to never end?

Note to "I'm a Big" Dick Cheney: this could be considered bullying. I thought you should know.

Imagine my disappointment...

...after reading a headline that said "Dodging Impeachment: President Resigns" to find that the article was about Captain Codpiece's bestest buddy ex-General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan and not the Captain himself. Maybe next time, eh?

1,000 reasons John McCain shouldn't be President

Number 64: remember the New Math? Well last week the Aged One invented the New Geography. In this new "science" Pakistan and Iraq seem to have a border. It is of course possible, one might say probable, that in the Arizona Senator's mind he has already illegally invaded Iran, conquered it and split the territory amongst it's neighbours.

Now this could prove more than a wee bit tricky

Should Afghanistan launch military strikes against Afghanistan, as threatened by the Afghan President, whose side will the US be on. Afghanistan's? Pakistan's? Neither? Both?

"You fucking idiot! Iran's the other way, stupid!"

The Pakistani Army is blaming the US military for an air strike in Pakistani territory that killed 11 members of the Pakistani military. With friends like these...

Democracy - a primer

In a modern democracy the political sector has oversight over and control of the military. Therefore when a top military officer has been in charge of a critical command and his judgement and adherence to military regulations and to domestic and international law have been brought into question the politicians and the press must endeavour to ensure that he is not given a choice new assignment as a reward. That is how it worked in this case at least. The only problem with the story is that Major General Jay Hood was to be awarded the top US military post in Pakistan as a reward for his excellent work as the head man at the Guantánamo Bay Beach and Leisure Club but the politicians and the press in Pakistan put up such a fuss that his name will be withdrawn shortly.

Feeling safer yet?

The US government's General Accounting Office does think you should. The title of their report?

"The United States Lacks a Comprehensive Plan to Destroy the Terrorist Threat and Close the Safe Haven in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas."

I don't think I'll even bother reading it!

The ex-General's pout

Captain Codpiece's good mate Pakistani "President" Pervez "The ex-General" Musharraf is in a grumpy mood now that he hasn't got his way in his country's most recent exceedingly free, fair and peaceful elections! But the US still thinks he's just the ticket, irrespective of what the Pakistani people might have indicated.

I just love democracy.

On the road to freedom!

Pakistan's "President" Pervez "The Ex-General" Musharaf has warned the enemies of freedom opposition not to even think about protesting after they fairly and squarely lose the election this coming Monday.

"They should not be under any illusion that they will bring people to the streets after the election. Nothing of that sort will be allowed...In this situation of extremism and terrorism, no agitation, anarchy or chaos can be acceptable."

Democracy - a beautiful thing to watch!

"The (ex)-General" can explain anything and everything

Having failed to convince anyone that Benazir Bhutto's death was an accident illegitimate Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf would now like us to believe it was suicide. One has to admire his creative streak.

Things ARE getting betting in Iraq...

...or maybe things are just going down the toilet in Pakistan. According to this Express India article Pakistan is now the world's most dangerous place.

The Pakistanis are coming! The Pakistanis are coming!

Thank God for Mike Huckabee. If it wasn't for the former governor of Arkansas we would be blissfully unaware of the dangers of unusual Pakistanis trying to infiltrate the United States in the wake of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

Bhutto death ruled a tragic accident

Government cover up suspected.

Juan Cole asks a silly question

"With Bhutto gone, does Bush have a Plan B?"

I am generally surprised when he has a Plan A!

Whither Pakistan?

Former Pakistani Prime Minister and opponent of the country's current head of state Pervez "The Ex-General" Musharraf has been assassinated in Rawalpindi. In Islamabad four aides to former Premier Nawaz Sharif have also been killed by gunfire. Who is responsible for either of these incidents? I doubt we will ever know for sure. (UPDATE: I should like to point out that Jason Burke has drawn the same conclusion.) It is likely that the violence will escalate and, if it does, can the military government survive?

There are very few answers to these questions that can be viewed as being favourable for the Pakastani people, for American interests and for the world.

Who says we haven't got a plan?

Has Captain Codpiece outsourced the country's foreign policy to the American Enterprise Institute? Frederick Kagan, who came up with the completely successful surge idea for Iraq, has some additional ideas about Pakistan. These include:

• Sending in the Special Forces or the SAS to commandeer the country's nuclear weapons and taking the weapons to New Mexico
• Sending US troops into the tribal regions to take on the Taliban - no mention is made of Pakistani approval of such a venture
• An American military occupation of "Islamabad and the provinces of Punjab, Sindh and Baluchistan" to shore up civilian dictator Pervez "Don't Call Me The General Anymore" Musharraf (but only if asked nicely by the Pakistani Army).

I look forward to peace in our time, don't you?

Question of the day

Now that Pakistani military dictator Pervez "The General" Musharraf is officially Pakistan's civilian dictator what everyone wants to know is - what will Bush call him now? After yesterday it is obvious that he won't be able to get "Pervez" out of his mouth (although we all would get a chuckle when he called him "Pervert"*). So what is it going to be?

*How he ever managed to talk about Iraq allegedly buying uranium from Niger without the obvious mispronunciation I'll never know.

That'll put the fear of God into them

Pakistan's President Pervez "The General" Musharraf has threatened to stop cooperating with the Commonwealth after being suspended from the organisation for failing to have even the pretense of a democracy like Uganda and Brunei do.