You won't read this, but you should

You won't read this, but you should
by clammyc
Sun Jan 27, 2008 at 08:29:34 AM PST

Since nothing that is about anything other than what Clinton or Obama said or didn’t say, or why John Edwards HAS to stay in/drop out of the Presidential race gets read around here, and since the corporate media is more concerned with Britney or American Idol or what Clinton or Obama said or didn’t say, or why Mitt’s hair is just sooooooo perfect, other major events have gone completely unnoticed.


And you would think that nobody seems to care that we are still engaging in a failed occupation in Iraq, or that the already worsening situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan is getting worse. Despite what was drummed into our heads, al Qaeda and the Taliban are not watching with baited breath to see which Democratic candidate will enable them to move forward with their plan to attack us - those plans are already well underway, thanks to Bush and the republican party’s enabling of him to neglect the region.



.............

So while everyone over here in the US is laser focused on "he said/she said" and whatever other distractions we are being forced to swallow (or ignore), there is now a coordinated and organized Taliban and al Qaeda working together even closer than they have in years. With little to no pushback. With more money and freedom to operate. Resulting in more violence, more damage and more threats. In one country that we have largely ignored and another that we paid lip service to while leaving too soon for a folly in another country that we are still in five years later - with no real plan to help the people of or deal with the resurgent terrorism and civil war in any of the three countries.

much more here:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/1/27/11276/9684/292/444139

if you know what I mean.

People act as though the taliban were some implacable evil force coming out of nowhere. Radical, militant islamic forces like the taliban and al-Qaeda are responses to conditions and events in the world. The U.S. and some of its allies have done much to create those conditions and to foster the development of militant discontent. Yes, an organized taliban is a threat to U.S. interests in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but only because U.S. interests are diametrically opposed to the interests of a great many Waziri in the region, and to those of their Pashtun brethren in Afghanistan.

This is all the result of U.S. imperialism. We have no business being their enemy in western Pakistan or in Afghanistan. None. So our attempts to politically and militarily dominate their homeland, and our patronage of their home grown enemies, creates their reason for being and makes them powerful. They derive their legitimacy, at least partly, from our imperialist misdeeds.

It's time to stop being an imperialist power.

was left in the dust of the Iowa caucus.
He never took his eye off the area, and said it was the real danger we faced. Too bad few were listening.

I'm glad you posted this. Our vision is clouded by all those distractions you mentioned.

Focus, folks.

http://biden.senate.gov/newsroom/details.cfm?id=291038&

Musharraf is using them as a scapegoat for his assassination of Bhutto, and as an excuse to let his army do a little purging in the area with the help of US troops. Rovian tactics 101- make a mountain out of a molehill, and then claim that the problem was bigger than we thought and requires more sacrifice of money or principles...and still don't get rid of the molehill.

Our only objective in those countries is to keep our foothold secure(which we are doing admirably), attempt to look like peacekeepers rather than occupiers and wait for the proper time to strike Iran.

Once we have all the oil sewn up, we can get around to killing all of those brown people. The UN might even allow us to if we give them a good enough excuse.

:puke:

every move made in Pakistan these days. Forget Iraq, it is the most dangerous situation for the US on this planet today. And it is lose/lose. We can't win. We go in and the country goes up in flames. We hesitate and the country eventually is taken over by the crazy fundies (their variety, not ours).

Now or later. Those are the choices.

Musharraf is our new Saddam type pet. US troops are already "intervening" despite Musharraf claiming that the US was not welcome there.

Waste your energy more on worrying what Bushco is cooking up next. Whatever they come up with, it's usually expensive, bloody and unnecessary.

I agree that if we were to go in, up in flames. Not so sure about it being taken over by their fundies. The fundie attacks on gov and now civilian targets could be pushing everyone else a bit closer together in response. Still need to restore the PK army to its "traditional" role, rather than being an extension of any political party. Corruption has gotten even worse, the poor have gotten poorer; makes everything more volatile. Completely agree that this is a very dangerous situation.

as we all know he's been talking about Pakistan for a long time. The admin has been ignoring him. He (Biden) also said that if this movement grows, Pakistan will be a tinder box for at least a decade. Of course he said this months ago. :eyes:

What needs to happen is for the admin to call on Biden and others who have an understanding of the situation and work together to address this issue.

The problem is, this admin doesn't listen to anyone outside it's group of like-minded psychopaths.

That this situation has been allowed to escalate to this point is unbelievable.

Bush's War on Terror has done nothing but enable such dissent and groups to spread like wildfire.

I don't know what we can do, and I agree that the focus here on he said/she said to the near exclusion of anything else is almost as frightening as witnessing the Americans who "just don't get it" regarding what we're being faced with.

I guess my point in posting is that there HAVE been voices of reason in Washington so there is hope that some of these voices may yet still prevail.

I ain't waiting up nights, though.

We often forget there is a world outside of the primaries.

K&R

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2774666


At least according to all the GOP candidates and even some of the Dem ones.

If there's one thing history teaches us all, it's that if the Pakistani government is accusing someone of assassinating Bhutto... that person/organization is definitely NOT to blame.

Secondly, all this fear of "Pakistan falling under a fundamentalist government". God forbid, should they be bombed now or in 2 weeks? The US has one of the most "fundamentalist" governments I've seen in the last decade, anywhere. It's incredibly aggressive both domestically and internationally.

Are you also entertaining the idea of a "coalition of the literate" bombing the living crap out of the US and then invading with ground forces for a decade of mayhem? Heck, maybe you'd greet them with flowers, they bring democracy. :)

Of course not. You can fix it. You can elect a good candidate, and the US gets a spitshine polish, it'll be as good as new. Well.... technically, you did elect a good one last election, but he's not the president. Either way, you can fix it. It's just a dumb president right?

Why don't you give other countries the same leverage? Why are they not allowed to be in charge of their destiny?

:sarcasm:

Now, by making the election cover almost the entire 4 year cycle, we can effectively put off anything having to do with policy, investigations or running the country. Full time circus. No accountability.

is not covering the war In Iraq anymore... so the surge is working...NOT!