Most likely the less said about Pakistan the better after all they are going ape sh** over there.

There's also the fact that there's a real difference between an ally and somebody you have over a barrel.

""I don't know who told the president of Pakistan that," Bush said with obvious irritation."

Probably Colin Powell...

Oh boy...As long as the fight against the terrorists goes on in earnest, I'll be saying with everyone else "Bush is the right president for these times!" But by publicly putting us in bed with the ChiComs, he has reaffirmed that his administration (despite Rumsfeld and Marshall's thinking) will be weak in the area of East Asia policy and China in particular. I think, unfortunately, this may be another Roosevelt - a good leader for this war who is failing to see as far forward as the next conflict, for which we'll be just as woefully prepared as we were for this one.

BTW - Mentioning Pakistan in a public address would've been just about the best way to get the "President General" assassinated that much quicker.

I am growing rather weary of this implicit notion being spread about that we must treat other nations like a bunch of junior high school girls. "Snub", indeed. My word. (Maybe Pakistan now won't have anyone to ask to the Sadie Hawkins dance....?)

It also occurs to me that maybe, just maybe, Pakistan wouldn't want to appear on a List Of U.S. Allies. Wouldn't such a thing cause certain, uh, domestic problems for that government?

It's not even too much of a stretch to imagine that Pakistan's government asked the U.S. not to go around bandying about regarding how Pakistan is such a great Ally Of The U.S. You think? :)

But instead we get whining, unthinking articles such as this. I vote that the author of this piece needs to take some self-esteem classes or something, rather than agonize over whether this or that country has been "snubbed"....just my opinion, though....

The omission was even more pronounced as Bush even praised the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) for providing intelligence against terrorists holed up in Afghanistan while maintaining silence on Pakistan.

Well, it looks like Pakistan may be in the beginning stages of unraveling. We'll have to see what happens with tomorrow's prayers in the Pakistani provinces. If Pakistan gos up in flames, then we should all hope that India can quickly pick up the pieces.

I know they in India are discussing their own offensive against terrorism in Kashmir. More later.

Yeah, he should have said..."Thanks to Saddam Hussein, he has been aiding our war efforts". Create a little infighting.

Hmmm...hiden meaning maybe...If I was Gen Mush%$^%*% or what ever his name is I'd be lookin' over my shoulder

..a good leader for this war who is failing to see as far forward as the next conflict

One war at a time, friend. Lets get through this one with China cooperating. God knows , if they wanted to, they could send tens of thousands of Muslim Chinese in to help the Taliban and make things difficult for us.

When this is done, everyone will look at us with more respect, IMO.

'over in a few days' wreaks of our affirmative action sos colin powell. pakistan took the 'plea bargain' deal, in that they are just as responsible as the taliban, their mortal ally. if pakistan wants to be anything remotely viable in the post terror world (should we ever get there), they will *truly* help us get this ashcanistan event over with very quickly. ashcanistan is hoping we dump troops in to become ensnared in a protracted guerilla war, and i imagine pakistan still isn't convinced they are on the winning side just yet, but rather are buying their time along with usds. i can conceive of a massive nuke event on american soil eroding the usd to the point that this 'carrot' won't be so compelling in the near future, and then all bets with pakistan, and most other islamic nutcase nations that sent their 'condolences' and claim to be 'against islamic terrorism', *off*.

It might have something to do with the fact that the head of Pakistan's Intelligence service, General Mahumd, was removed after the FBI discovered that $100,000 were wired to WTC hijacker Mohammed Atta from Pakistan by Ahmad Umar Sheikh at the instance of Gen Mahumd.

Most likely the less said about Pakistan the better after all they are going ape sh** over there.

Exactly. If we praised Pakistan as an ally, that would drive the psycho Muslim world (as opposed to the rest of the Muslim world) crazy and they would declare Islamic Jihad on Pakistan.

Leave it to an Indian newspaper to claim Pakistan was snubbed by a list that left India off also! The fact is, if India is on the list the Paks are mad, if the Paks are on the list both the Indians and muslim fundamentalists are mad. Better to leave them both off. Actually, Bush's rebuke of Mushie was one of the very few missteps I've seen him make. Of course Mushie was lying, which is a tool of statecraft in his world; he was lying to dampen extremist opposition to his policy and so later he could express surprise when the real plan unfolds. Bush should have said something like he hadn't yet read Mushie's remarks and couldn't comment.

musharaaf, who rose to power by overthrowing his own government with his radical islamic generals that were 'set aside' recently, looks constantly as though he has 'sadat on the brain', imo.

*wow* how'd i miss this one?!

The ugliness goes very deep. Dig far enough and you will find Bin Laden has supporters in the upper tiers of Pakistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and other places

The big question will be: will Bush deal with the roots, or will he just lop off the top and hope it won't grow back before the end of his term?

yes, that's the question. thanks my friend.

"...Bin Laden has supporters in the upper tiers of Pakistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and other places..."

Add Iran, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, UAE, Qatar, and even Kuwait and others to your list, Sauron!

We just need the 'Appearance' of a coalition for a short while, until we chop-off the head, (Bin-Laden) and establish a Military Base (think Da-Nang/Kandahar).

We need a 'Free-Reign' base in the region, to continue the eradication of the Terrorism.

"... just lop off the top and hope it won't grow back..."

I don't believe that's the case, my friend. I think President Bush looked far down the road, and realized that a new forward-base was needed in a more neutral place. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Egypt are un-trustworthy, so what better place than the most wretched piece of Real-Estate on earth, Afghanistan, besides Antartica, of course.

President Musharraf of Pakistan, although not entirely trustworthy, was made an offer he couldn't refuse: "General Musharraf, if you ally yourself with the USA, and allow us free passage through your country to Afghanistan, we will, in turn, help you kill-off all those pesky pains-in-the-asses dissidents in your country."

"We'll build you a coupla state-of-the-art, International Airports, and a huge, brand-new Shipping Port on the Indian Ocean, and new roads, too! What-the-hell, we'll even get Microsoft to invest here, too!"

"We'll guarantee that 'You will always drive a Cadillac, and that you will always drink champange'"!

.

"On the other hand, if you refuse our offer, we'll offer the same deal to your 2-I-C, and you'll be racing for some border somewhere, in an '87 Toyota pick-up, and drinking your own piss!"

General-President-Musharraf got the message! We bought him, and it's a win/win for everyone! We just want the oil for now, and we're gonna get it!!

After we're established, we'll go after the rest of the BASTARDS!

And a final word on Afghanistan, to paraphrase Sam Kinnison: "Y'see this? This is a Desert! It's rocks and sand! Nothing grows here! Nothing's ever gonna grow here! We have Deserts in America! We just don't live in them, asshole!" But we can fly airplanes in them real good!....FRegards

do you really think so? i think pakistan is way overrated as an 'ally', but more of a 'big brother wise guy' that got the ultimatum: "turn in your little protege or you're finished" and that's about it until we get phase one done. i've got a bad feeling that the un is going to be the umbrella for the remainder of the 'war on terrorists', which will the end of the world as we like it, as patriotic americans.