If you haven’t read the Great Asian game is heating up at Deja Vu ; you must. Also worth reading on Pakistan and war on terror are this, this and this. If you haven’t read Judeopundit’s Iran and Zimbabwe two countries with independent stances; you m…

And now…  the winning entries in the Watcher’s Council vote for this week are A Rock, a Hard Place, and the Deep Blue Sea by Right Wing Nut House, and Islamist Historiography by Cross-Currents.  All members, please be sure to…

The council has spoken and these are the results. On the Council side, Right Wing Nuthouse’s A rock, a hard place and the deep blue sea was the winning entry. It considered how much of an ally Musharaaf really is. There was a second place tie between …

LOL

I think al-qaeda and the taliban had something to say about that—like running off to Pakistan whenever the going got rough. Ever look at the area with Google Maps?

As Rick said, some people just don’t GET that people other than Americans make decisions too.

Hey achmed what do you think? I think we go now and come back to fight again in another week. Maybe. Or next month.

The 500 lb monkey on America’s back and the explanation for Bush’s seemingly inexplicable behavior is the Saudis, plain and simple…along with the other Sunni autocracies our president is so fond of.

Their influence on political figures on both sides of the aisle is a cancer, especially with this president.

It’s why the president,instead of putting the country on a war footing advised us all to calm down and go shopping.

It’s why we got involved in Iraq, why it became such a mess and why we continue to fund Palestinian terrorists, and why so little has been done to stop the importation of jihad into our country.

It’s why we continue to fight half a war.

As for Musharref he has NEVER been an ally in the true sense of the word, partly because he can’t be and partly, like much of the Muslim world, because he’s still waiting to see which way the wind ends up blowing.

If he’s truly in control, then he has the ability to stop Pakistan from being a haven for al Qaeda and the Taliban, even if it simply means allowing coalition forces to go in after them and kill them. If he’s not in control, why bother bribing him?

As you mention, we invaded Iraq and Afghanistan on the basis that they were harboring our enemies and were a threat, so why should Pakistan be any different - or Iran?

If Musharref wasn’t cooperating, we should have made our displeasure known rather forcefully,so that he understood that it was in his best interests to cooperate if he still wanted a country in one piece.

Now, with the country disgusted with Bush’s lack of leadership and al Qaeda and the Taliban even more firmly entrenched then they were, it will be a much more difficult job.

Just as with Iran,the president is allowing hostile forces to strike at our troops with impunity in the name of `hearts and minds’ while handcuffing our forces with ridiculous rules of engagement and locking them into a defensive war of attrition.

This goes back to Bush’s refusal to take the war seriously, do what is necessary for victory and of course, his dread of upsetting his Saudi pals.

Unless he changes course fairly quickly, he will go down in history as America’s Neville Chamberlain.

First off…  any spambots reading this should immediately go here, here, here,  and here.  Die spambots, die!  And now…  here are all the links submitted by members of the Watcher’s Council for this week’s vote. Council li…

A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.

Bush’s neglect of the pursuit and defeat of ONLY ENEMY THAT COUNTS, to pursue neo-con wet dreams of controlling Iraq and Iran, has allowed al-qaeda to reconstitute and regain its control. There is no one to blame BUT Bush for the malignant neglect of the true priority in the ‘War on Terror’ to pursue ideological goals elsewhere.

I agree that Musharaff is between a rock and a hard place, with no wiggle room. But if we’d done the job right in Afghanistan, he wouldn’t have Taliban and al-qaeda training camps on Pakistani soil.