This is a couple of weeks old, but worth just revisiting. From Panetta’s visit to Afghanistan on 7 June:
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Thursday pressured Pakistan to do more to root out the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani terrorist network, saying American officials are “reaching the limits of our patience.”
Ha!
We haven’t reached the limits of our patience yet? We’re only getting there now? Wow. We are some patient ass mofos, ain’t we?
And what happens when we actually reach those limits? Then what? Then we get serious with Pakistan? How? Do we cut them off? And then what? Do they then turn around and cut off the Haqqanis and others?
What part of Pakistan’s behavior do we not understand? Because, I think they’ve made their priorities pretty damn clear. They are pathologically worried about India. So much so that they have been willing to risk nuclear war with their neighbor over ties to radical Islamist terror groups. They are terrified of some sort of Indian-Afghanistan encirclement. It doesn’t make any damn sense to me, but it isn’t like Pakistan hasn’t been quite consistent on this front. Groups like the Haqqanis provide their best option for maintaining leverage on developments in Afghanistan, and they are not going to give that away just because we have a hissy fit.
They didn’t give up on their nukes because we had a hissy fit. And they won’t change course on Afghanistan.
Here are our options — as they have existed all along — find a way to forward in Afghanistan that does not require Pakistan to turn on its allies there or leave. It is really that simple. But no, here we go, every couple of months with another stern warning.
Guess what, Mr. Secretary. They are laughing at us. And they are right to. Because we’re behaving like a bunch of idiots.
Here are some other news flashes: Karzai isn’t going to stop corruption, Assad isn’t going to stop killing his people if they continue to protest, and just for fun, let me also note that the Israelis are not going stop building settlements and will never agree to a two-state solution. So ya know, maybe we should start thinking about dealing with the world as it is, not as is it appears on our wishful thinking PowerPoints.
Agreed. Every time I hear an American politician announce what Pakistan “must do” I get sick. The worst part, like you said, is that their interests and activities are absolutely clear.
Can I just say, WORD?