Percolating Problems
Like many who choose to write about current events, one has to pick their battles wisely. There are only so many hours in the day after all. As such, much of my attention of late has been focused on documenting the inanities of the right wingers. A full time job in and of itself, it has sadly left little time to focus on foreign developments.
On that front there is a mix bag. Iraq may be seeing a noticeable turn for the better. If we have indeed "won" in Iraq, I would be among the first to gladly gobble a heaping helping of humble pie but as some note we are merely at the same level of violence that necessitated the surge to begin with.
Developments in Pakistan are even more distressing as President Pervez Musharraf, has declared a state of emergency, suspending the constitution and rounding up members of the opposition. The action does not bode well for US-Pakistani relations because it puts the Bushies in the awkward position of backing an ally in the war on terror who is now seen as suppressing institutions of democracy, a goal we are ostensibly trying to attain in Iraq.
But this has always been one consequence of how the US has handled its Mid-East foreign policy. For decades we have played one group against another, first with the Afghan fighters against the Soviets and now Pakistan is battling some of those same Muslim extremists we help cultivate. In a sense, we must rely on a new ally to confront an old one.
And when one is forced to rely on such a dynamic, one must occasionally be forced to confront the consequences when the new ally inevitably has to crack the whip.
More via Meme.
(Filed at State of the Day and All Spin Zone)
On that front there is a mix bag. Iraq may be seeing a noticeable turn for the better. If we have indeed "won" in Iraq, I would be among the first to gladly gobble a heaping helping of humble pie but as some note we are merely at the same level of violence that necessitated the surge to begin with.
Developments in Pakistan are even more distressing as President Pervez Musharraf, has declared a state of emergency, suspending the constitution and rounding up members of the opposition. The action does not bode well for US-Pakistani relations because it puts the Bushies in the awkward position of backing an ally in the war on terror who is now seen as suppressing institutions of democracy, a goal we are ostensibly trying to attain in Iraq.
But this has always been one consequence of how the US has handled its Mid-East foreign policy. For decades we have played one group against another, first with the Afghan fighters against the Soviets and now Pakistan is battling some of those same Muslim extremists we help cultivate. In a sense, we must rely on a new ally to confront an old one.
And when one is forced to rely on such a dynamic, one must occasionally be forced to confront the consequences when the new ally inevitably has to crack the whip.
More via Meme.
(Filed at State of the Day and All Spin Zone)
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