I think you’re right on here. The neocons think the whole world thinks as they do in the narrow focus of power and greed. Consequently, they’re easily rolled. Look at how easily the neocons have been rolled by Iraqis and Iranians over and over again.

Link didn’t copy — go back to #26

Yea, good article, plus a number of good extra links to other McClatchy articles of value.

But I have serious doubts whether a tribal militia can accomplish much. In that culture, they raise a militia on a very temporary basis, they don’t carry the logistics to maintain much more than a single targeted attack. Dir itself is a fascinating area — a narrow valley with hills on one side, and higher mountains on the other, and virtually every male in the valley is a gunsmith. They can hand copy any gun that has ever been made — and the road is lined with Gun Dealers and makers. If you show an interest, they encourage you to go out behind the stall and shoot off a few rounds of whatever. They don’t let tourists in anymore, but when I was there it was wide open, and there were lots of Afghani men around shopping for what they planned to take over the mountains. (I was there in the midst of the war with the Soviets — just before Reagan released the Stingers to them). Dir does not furnish the Pakistani Army — but it is the source for everyone else. Very strange mix — the normal Bazaar environment, the shooting ranges in the rear, many bearded men covered in bandoleers, small furnaces for smelting metals tended by a little 6 year old working the bellows, and every stall had a tea table where the deals were made.

You can just imagine why they would not want the Taliban getting involved with their business — Customers yes, but not governors. They don’t want the Pakistani Government either — they don’t pay any taxes. In these Tribal areas, the law is that Pakistan owns the road, and so many yards on either side of it, but beyond that the writ of the state just doesn’t run.

“Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), speaking on CBS, said that releasing the F-16s — which he supports — was unlikely to affect Pakistan’s decision” to test the nuclear bomb.”

Have checked Index references in about a dozen books about the Soviet Era war in Afghanistan, some covering the post war period up to 9/11, and not a single reference in any of them to McCain. Have checked half a dozen on the Pakistani Nuclear Project — again no McCain references. If he had any opinions about either, he sure didn’t leave any footprints people writing about US Actions and Policy thought worth citing.

The F-16’s were withheld from Pakistan, even though they had paid for most of them, under the terms of the Pressler Amendment, which came into effect before Bill Clinton was elected. The argument was that F-16’s could be easily modified as a nuclear delivery system, and we would not sell them to countries that were persueing the Nuclear Fuel Cycle if the country was not signed on to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. (exception for Israel, which maintains the fiction that they don’t have or won’t tell.) Bush II got the Pressler Amendment revoked, and the F-16’s were delivered after 2002. In response, India leased unused former Soviet nuclear capable bombers at the same time the Pressler Amendment was revoked. Both India and Pakistan are building the same kind of three legged stool we maintained in the Cold War — Submarine launch capacity, Aircraft capacity, and Missle capacity.

“I don’t think that Sen. Obama understands that there was a failed state in Pakistan when Musharraf came to power,” referring to former President Pervez Musharraf, who took power in a coup 1999. Although Pakistan sure had problems, many people didn’t regard the country, then a nuclear-armed one, as a failed state.

A tad more on McCain’s thoughts on what he now consider’s the “failed state” of 1998 Pakistan

In 1998 Senator McCain supported the sale of nuclear-capable F-16’s to Pakistan, in spite of the fact that they were preparing to test a nuclear weapon.

“Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), speaking on CBS, said that releasing the F-16s — which he supports — was unlikely to affect Pakistan’s decision” to test the nuclear bomb.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..051898.htm

So was Senator McCain willing to supply F-16’s to a nuclear-armed rogue “failed state”?????

I wonder if the videotape of that statement on CBS can be found. It’d be a great “then-and-now” advertisement.

Amy Goodman interviewed Iranian President Ahamdinejad last week.

Part I

http://www.democracynow.org/
2008/9/26/iranian_president_mahmoud_ahmedinejad_on_iran

Part II
http://www.democracynow.org/20…..ad_on_iran

“I can see India from my Palace!”

Mr. McCain’s spokesman, Tucker Bounds, would not discuss the senator’s night of gambling at Foxwoods, saying: “Your paper has repeatedly attempted to insinuate impropriety on the part of Senator McCain where none exists — and it reveals that your publication is desperately willing to gamble away what little credibility it still has.”

I was surprised that no one, even here, has brought up the approx. 75,000 documents collected (sequestered?) by McCain during the Abramoff hearings that he has continued to refuse to release. The whole story may well be far more damaging than anything posited so far.

And how about those medical records, John? Got an albatross or two in there?