Deadly NATO Airstrikes and Their Effect on U.S.-Pakistan Relations and Afghan War Strategy
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-11-29/deadly-nato-airstrikes-and-their-effect-us-pakistan-relations-and-afghan-war-strate
The U.S.-Pakistan alliance has long been troubled. It hit a new low after the American raid on Osama bin Laden's Pakistan compound last May. But the two allies recently began to repair the relationship. Now the gains appear to have been lost. Over the weekend, a NATO airstrike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. The details remain unclear. NATO said the strike was ordered after coalition forces came under fire from Pakistan. Islamabad strongly disputes that account. Guest host Susan Page will talk with a panel of experts about what happened and what's at stake for the U.S., Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Guests
Christine Fair
assistant professor, Georgetown University's security studies program; fellow at West Point's Combating Terrorism Center.
Jonathan Landay
senior national security and intelligence correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers.
Shuja Nawaz
director of the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center and author of "Crossed Swords: Pakistan, its Army, and the Wars Within."
Comments
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I get the impression that the Pakistani army effectively runs Pakistan's foreign policy regardless of which civilian government is in Islamabad.
The Pakistani army is convinced that Afghanistan is their backyard or colony where they have a right to decide who Afghans talk to or deal with. They will not let Afghanistan be democratic since Afghans have always hated Pakistani interference in their affairs. The Pakistani choice of the Taliban to run the show or have enough of a spoiler relationship with veto power is at best inhumane, at worst a support for terrorism.
All this to say, are we cool with this? If we are, then why did we bother going in to Afghanistan and staying so long in the first place?
If we are not, what are our options in terms of blunting the edge that the Pakistani army wields?
Please don't say it is funding the civilian government. They are unable to even admit leave aside pass an anti Blasphemy law. They willing play second fiddle to the army when it comes to foreign policy and they even call for army intervention from time to time. They are a complete .. well you get the picture ...
What actually happened when NATO aircraft opened fire on the Pakistani outpost is an academic point. The attack aircraft utilized video record all their actions and the audio from command. If gun fire and mortar fire were originating inside the outpost the video will clearly show it as well as the targeting information and command permissions. Whether the press and public will ever see and hear the truth is unclear. The State Department will obviously suppress the video and classify it as a military secret.
What actually happened when NATO aircraft opened fire on the Pakistani outpost is an academic point. The attack aircraft utilized video record all their actions and the audio from command. If gun fire and mortar fire were originating inside the outpost the video will clearly show it as well as the targeting information and command permissions. Whether the press and public will ever see and hear the truth is unclear. The State Department will obviously suppress the video and classify it as a military secret.
Ms. Fair, I do not discount contradictions among us humans.
Afghanistan and Pakistan are discussed here as if they were cohesive nation states like the USA with empowered governments that are entirely in control. In actuality, we find two countries composed of extremely diverse cultures which have grown to coexist over thousands of years despite their differences in language, culture, religion and ethnicity. Any attempt to impress Western ideas and values on such countries in short order are doomed to fail. Nothing will be gained, if the war is waged from the comfort of our homes.
Read more here:
http://brainmindinst.blogspot.com/2009/07/computers-mind.html
Whew, just in time! "NATO" kills a bunch of Pakistanis, rush the panel of propagandists on to explain why we need to continue being the foremost terrorist force in the world. Thanks, Ms. McPaper!
It might be interesting sometime, when the the need for a big slug of hard-hitting propaganda has diminished somewhat, to have a discussion with people who believe in sovereignty, the rule of law, democracy, due process, etc. Are there even any of those left in this country? Oh, yes, I hear them all the time on Democracy Now!, why can't you find them?
"commuter chris wrote:
What actually happened when NATO aircraft opened fire on the Pakistani outpost is an academic point. The attack aircraft utilized video record all their actions and the audio from command. If gun fire and mortar fire were originating inside the outpost the video will clearly show it as well as the targeting information and command permissions. Whether the press and public will ever see and hear the truth is unclear. The State Department will obviously suppress the video and classify it as a military secret.
November 29, 2011 - 10:22 am"
If they ever do show it, no doubt it will be like Waco,"Pay no attention to that Man in the Tank, the flashes were just the sun glinting off of puddles."
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
the commentary is one sided and bias ,the so call expert are dead wrong
and the commendatory is very one sided and bias, and anti pakistan propaganda, disappointing in npr radio