Pakistan Army Wants Cuts in US Military Personnel

Source: Associated Press

Pakistan's army on Thursday called for cuts in the number of U.S. military personnel inside the country to protest the American commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden, and threatened to cut cooperation with Washington if it stages more unilateral raids on its territory.

The statement, the first since Monday's raid, signaled the army's anger at the unilateral operation, but was also aimed at pacifying domestic critics who have accused it of failing to protect the country's sovereignty — potent charges in a country where anti-Americanism runs deep.

Ties between America and Pakistan were already strained before the raid because of American allegations that Islamabad was failing to crackdown on Afghan Taliban factions sheltering on its soil, and Pakistani anger over U.S. drone strikes on its soil.

It did not refer to international suspicions that the army, or elements within it, may have sheltered bin Laden, but admitted intelligence "shortcomings" in not spotting bin Laden, who was living in a large compound in Abbottabad, an army town just a two hours drive from the capital, Islamabad.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=13533505

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Know what, they're right. We no longer have a reason to have those 275 US soldiers there helping them. Let's cut off every single dime we've been giving them and get the hell out today.

Now is the time! There will never be a better exit strategy than the window open before us now. If we don't take this opportunity the mission will get murkier, the alliances stranger and there really will be no way out.

PB

Then do the same in Afghanistan and Iraq.

and we'll cut billions in aid along with our military personnel as well. Thanks for nothing Pakistan!

just ignoring Pakistan has a certain attractive reactionary sort of sense.

But when you put their nukes in the equation, you sober up and realize that actually it's a good thing to have some influence in what the fuck is going on there.

Now let's fast forward to a time in the not too distant future when lots of nations like Pakistan have nukes. Are we to bribe them all or is there some other course of action that seems more feasible?

Just who was helping and shielding Bin Laden is another part of the problem. This is far from over.

Obama has some big decisions to make in the near future. This is really tough.

It is obvious that at least some elements in Pakistan support Al Qaeda to the extent that they are willing to take big risks to support it.

The hard drives and files that our Seals found may lead us to more evidence and more answers to our questions.

This is only beginning.

They at most have 2 to 5, all Chinese made.

They just inflate the numbers to make their nuclear blackmail effective.

Obviously, this kind of info is highly unreliable as it is, but I've seen some claim their numbers are exaggerated, but I haven't been convinced one way or the other.

I will accept that they've received significant Chinese help though, and I've seen it been alleged that they've received assistance on their missile technology from North Korea.

Western Nations often act paralyzed when it comes to unstable nations like Pakistan and North Korea having nuclear weapons.

Much of that fear has led to a weak and highly ineffective policy toward Pakistan especially. Only recently, has this nation taken relatively bold steps in ways not seen previously by any other administration, in addressing Pakistan's duplicity.

What are our contingency plans if the nation falls to a group of radicals, perhaps by a violent coup? Are we really prepared to face a war to attempt to take control of the nukes? Our current policy of doling out billions in military aid to simply launch disparate drone attacks in remote parts of the country are questionable. Ultimately, the most vital operation seen so far didn't even have their permission so their government and military don't really seem to care what we have to say.

That things are starting to get dicey with all these Americans troops around.