Center for a New American Security

I've never had so much love

I've never had so much love for anonymous Pakistani officials. (If only he'd been around for the Korean War, or even just Vietnam - we could have nipped this whole "frenemy" thing in the bud.)

So when does the bombing begin? Or perhaps we could just sit back, pop a cold one and let India do the work...

“We need to know who is in

“We need to know who is in Pakistan doing what"

I agree, we do! That is, "we" (America) need to know who (Taliban and al Qaeda) is in Pakistan doing what -- and with assistance from which elements of the Pakistani government.

"Pakistani officials have expressed alarm over the scope of the CIA’s presence inside their country"

Whereas, the scope of the Taliban and al Qaeda presence inside their country is a matter of blissful unconcern!

"We are going to have a long-term relationship with Pakistan going forward, even after the 2014 transition in Afghanistan"

After that "transition", when the ISI turns their Taliban creatures loose in Afghanistan, can we stop pretending that Pakistan is an ally and treat them straightforwardly as an enemy? That would be a much healthier "long-term relationship" than the one we have now.

We can, actually. The

We can, actually.

The Pakistani security services have a strong interest in preventing terrorist groups from killing large numbers of Pakistanis -- especially members of the Pakistani security services -- or letting them get so powerful that they compromise the security services' dominant position within Pakistan's society and government. The United States shares this interest.

The Pakistani security services also have a fixed policy of using their country as a base of operations in a geopolitical rivalry with Pakistan's vastly larger, vastly richer, and vastly better-governed neighbor India. This policy includes sponsorship of Islamist terrorist groups, and has for years. It is a policy that makes perfect sense in the context of the Pakistani security services' determination to maintain their status (and funding) within Pakistan. With respect to the interests of the Pakistani nation as a whole the policy is completely idiotic, without a single redeeming feature, and of course utterly contrary to the interests of the United States. This would be true, incidentally, even if Pakistani-sponsored terrorist groups were not attacking American and NATO forces and their Afghan allies in Afghanistan.

Because they are, the Islamist terror groups and their Pakistani sponsors have us over a barrel -- or rather, the Bush and Obama administrations put themselves over a barrel made in Pakistan. At the moment, and for several years past, we've put ourselves through this elaborate charade of treating Pakistan's civilian government as if it were the real government in public. In private, we deal with the security services as if they were the real government. We treat both as American allies, attack targets in Pakistan using intelligence provided by Pakistani sources, and then stand mute as both civilian leaders and sources within the Pakistani security services blame the United States for the resulting casualties, and complain that America does not respect Pakistan or trust them.

The Pakistani security services are now trying to use the Davis affair as leverage to reduce the number of American intelligence operatives in the country, and increase American dependency on sources the Pakistani security services can control. Maybe this gambit works, maybe it doesn't. The question is how much longer the Obama administration is going to allow itself to get played by these people. At least until 2014, if it were up to Gen. Petraeus (and AM), apparently. This is at least an answer, though not a very good one.

salaamu aleykum. You seem to

salaamu aleykum.
You seem to skip mention of the fact that the Paks also told the US to quit the droning.
what i truly do not understand is how killing civilians with drones and chopper fire, burning Qurans, holding Draw Muhammed Day and American troops committing atrocities and taking human trophies is going to do accomplish anything but make more islamic terrorists.
This strategy is not ever going to result in liberal democracy in either Kabul or Islamabad.
And we are spending three billion dollars per month to make more more islamic terrorists? non?
That is 100 million dollars a day.
incroyable.
How sweet that you have read the classics, Andrew. The classical mind is very different from the modern mind, did you know?
I wonder if you might have also have read the Brothers Karamazov in perhaps a russian lit class.
I have always wondered if you are Ivan or Ilyosha,

Our relationship with

Our relationship with Pakistan seems to put a twist on Machiavelli’s admonition to keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

While the Pakistani’s are playing “hedge our bets” with the various groups in their western area of interest perhaps we should start more publicly strengthening our ties with India, who at least has proven to be less of a turncoat nation in its dealings with the US.

The next step would be to sever a significant portion of our aid to Pakistan. Yes, the handwringers would lament that by doing so we jeopardize the Pakistani nuclear arsenal and there is the potential that “extremists” would acquire them. If that were to happen, just what do you think India’s response would be? India already considers Pakistan as it stands today as a threat.

We should stop throwing taxpayer dollars at a country whose ingratitude seems to grow daily.

Staffguy Don't like the Quran

Staffguy
Don't like the Quran burning and Draw Mohammed Days? Stop taking US money.
dude.....we went over there.
have you forgotten?

The bottom line is that

The bottom line is that Pakistan wants US funding and technology.

Pakistan ISI is also diverting american dollars to the Taliban. Don't you read Wikileaks?
The Taliban are the crocodiles in the moat that prevents Pakistan from getting their very own OEF.
You don't think not knowing the mission is part of the problem?
We are spending 100 million dollars a day to make more Taliban and more islamic terrorists in an unhustified, immoral, and UNWINNABLE war.

Pakistan wants US money and

Pakistan wants US money and technology and it also wants, at the same time, to pillory the US to their home constituency in order to maintain political power. All I am saying is that Pakistan telling the US not to treat them as ally and adversary at the same time is exactly what Pakistan is doing with the US. Both parties are doing the same thing. Is this some giant international game of chicken? (and there is an argument that all international relations is just that) Neither the US nor Pakistan is going to reach useful goals if the situation does not change and no parties capable of executing change seem to want to change anything. Untenable.

Yes, religion is symbolic. So what. The people in MeS that did some killing did not "symbolically" kill anyone, they really killed some folks. Symbolism is all well and good until someone loses an eye - or their life. Symbolism does not excuse socially unacceptable actions. And the bullshit that Terry Jones knew what would happen is exactly a bullshit excuse. There is no reason one should expect a society to react to the burning of a book with murder. Yes, it happens and we know it happens. Saying that their reaction is acceptable though just excuses it, that is tantamount to saying that the Afghans, or whomever, are incapable of thinking through their actions and that is bullshit. There were protests against the Quran burning in Herat, peaceful protests where the local police maintained civil order. There were some good sized crowds marching the streets, but they did not attack a UN, or other, compound. They did not kill anyone. Why? Because they controlled themselves. The same could have occurred in MeS but those that did the killing, for whatever reason, chose to go the extreme violence route. Acknowledgment of killing as an acceptable reaction - and that is what one does when blaming Terry Jones, et al - is an overt statement that one does not expect civil societal interaction of Afghans.

Afghan and Pakistani societies are perfectly capable of reacting to negative stimuli in a civil manner. That they choose not to at times does cannot be excused. Specifically, I reject the idea that blame can be placed on the instigator. This does nothing but relieve the actor of responsibility for his/her own actions. If you piss me off and I put my fist through a wall and break some bones is that action your fault? Or my own for failing to control myself? Similar concept extended to a society.

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