Text 39911, 105 rader
Skriven 2006-09-25 18:23:36 av Ross Cassell (1:123/456)
  Kommentar till text 39907 av BOB KLAHN (1:123/140)
Ärende: The bad news is...
==========================
Hello BOB!

25 Sep 06 17:36, you wrote to ALL:

This is not a political debate echo, unlessof course your article deals with
Fidonews, does it?


 BK> @TID: PX/Win v3.0pr5 PX96-0466M2
 BK> @MSGID: 1:123/140 6f1dee40
 BK> @TZUTC: -0400
 BK>  Well, we see the president of Pakistan is claiming he supported
 BK>  the US in the war on terror because of threats from the US. He
 BK>  claims Powell threatened him with "If you're not with us, you're
 BK>  against us."

 BK>  He also claims Armitage threatened the General in charge of
 BK>  Pakistani Intel with either join us or get bombed back to the
 BK>  stone age.

 BK>  Armitage denies this, Powell hasn't said anything I've seen yet.

 BK>  So, the questions are:
 BK>  1: Who do you believe?
 BK>  2: Why is he saying this?

 BK>  On a scale of 1 to 100 Armitage would have gotten 98 points or
 BK>  more a few months ago. However, since he trashed his own
 BK>  crediblity with the Wilson/Plame/Novak issue, to the point where
 BK>  even Novak turned on him, he has between zip and zero
 BK>  credibililty.

 BK>  However, I still believe Armitage for two reasons.

 BK>  One:

 BK>  Musharraf is making his claims in terms too deritive of US
 BK>  history. The "with us or against us" line was Bush's after 9-11.
 BK>  That Powell would use just those words seems unlikely, but it
 BK>  does look like something Musharraf would use to his audience,
 BK>  the Pakistani people, and who would be much more likely to
 BK>  believe them just because they are Bush's words. And the 'bombed
 BK>  back to the stone age" is from Barry Goldwater and the Vietnam
 BK>  war. Which Musharraf would be pretty likely to know of. Even
 BK>  Armitage would not be likely to be that blunt.

 BK>  Two:

 BK>  The second reason I believe Armitage is the far more important
 BK>  reason from the American point of view. The Pakistani military
 BK>  just fought a campaign in their Northern provinces, to root out
 BK>  the Taliban. They got their asses kicked. Musharraf is not all
 BK>  that popular to begin with, and Pakistani Intel worked closely
 BK>  with the Taliban. There is even strong indications that they
 BK>  never stopped.

 BK>  This leads to the possibility that Musharraf is inventing these
 BK>  stories to deflect from his govenment. If he fears he may soon
 BK>  fall from power, he may be trying desperately to save himself.

 BK>  That is important from the US point of view because it's a very
 BK>  risky proposition. Joining with the US against Al Qaeda and the
 BK>  Taliban might pass with the masses, if he could claim that
 BK>  Taliban and Al Qaeda just went too far and have to take their
 BK>  punishment. Caving into the US makes him look weak. In a country
 BK>  where a strong arm is the greatest qualification for leadership,
 BK>  and concern for human rights is a disqualification, that's not
 BK>  good.

 BK>  What makes this risky is that Pakistan is a nuclear power. If
 BK>  Pakistan falls, the Taliban, or their Pakistani soul brothers,
 BK>  will have nuclear weapons.

 BK>  Here the Bush administration lies really do bite us in the ass.
 BK>  The BS that Saddam might give WMds to terrorists was so stupid
 BK>  as to be ludicris. That Pakistan might let it happen is a very
 BK>  real risk. After all, Pakistan was the nuclear supermarket of
 BK>  the third world before 9-11. And the man in charge was pardoned
 BK>  by Musharraf.

 BK>  We truly are not safer, and we may be entering a time of extreme
 BK>  danger.


 BK> BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

 BK> ... There are so many things I have left unsaid, so many things left
 BK> undone. * Silver Xpress V4.5/P [Reg]
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==
Ross
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