On To Pakistan!

You fight 'em or we will!  That is the martial message delivered to Pakistani leaders by various American emissaries.  Yikes.

Pakistan Told to Ratchet Up Fight Against the Taliban
By DAVID E. SANGER and ERIC SCHMITT

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is turning up the pressure on Pakistan to fight the Taliban inside its borders, warning that if it does not act more aggressively the United States will use considerably more force on the Pakistani side of the border to shut down Taliban attacks on American forces in Afghanistan, American and Pakistani officials said.

The blunt message was delivered in a tense encounter in Pakistan last month, before President Obama announced his new war strategy, when Gen. James L. Jones, Mr. Obama’s national security adviser, and John O. Brennan, the White House counterterrorism chief, met with the heads of Pakistan’s military and its intelligence service.

United States officials said the message did not amount to an ultimatum, but rather it was intended to prod a reluctant Pakistani military to go after Taliban insurgents in Pakistan who are directing attacks in Afghanistan.

For their part the Pakistanis interpreted the message as a fairly bald warning that unless Pakistan moved quickly to act against two Taliban groups they have so far refused to attack, the United States was prepared to take unilateral action to expand Predator drone attacks beyond the tribal areas and, if needed, to resume raids by Special Operations forces into the country against Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders.

A senior administration official, asked about the encounter, declined to go into details but added quickly, “I think they read our intentions accurately.”

Folks who can remember back to the long campaign for the Democratic nomination will recall that Martial Obama demonstrated his toughness by repeatedly suggesting he would bomb Pakistan with or without their permission (Hillary's position was, "Waddya, nuts?"; I'm paraphrasing.)

On the other hand, as the Times notes today, Bush did this in Sept 2008, so that may give Obama some cover on the right.  On the other hand, in Sept 2008 Musharraf had just stepped down to we may have been exploiting a weak government in transition; now Pakistan has a weak government trying to avoid a transition, so publicly embarrassing them may be an awful idea.

AND FOR THE NOT-YET-FULLY PARANOID:  A US man is accused of helping scout the sites of the 2008 Mumbai attack, but the DEA connection sticks out on his resume:

WASHINGTON — An American at the center of an international terrorism investigation has been charged with helping plot the 2008 rampage in Mumbai, India, that left 163 people dead, according to a Justice Department complaint unsealed on Monday.

The suspect, David C. Headley of Chicago, is accused of helping identify targets for a Pakistan-based terrorist group called Lashkar-e-Taiba, whose two-day attack on luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, a Jewish community center and a crowded train station brought India’s financial capital to a halt and shocked the world. The complaint described Mr. Headley’s repeated scouting visits to the sites nearly two years before the attacks, which have reignited tensions between India and Pakistan.

...

David Headley, the son of a former Pakistani diplomat and an American socialite from Philadelphia, was born in Washington and raised in elite circles in Pakistan, where he attended a strict military high school. His parents divorced when he was young.

At 17, he arrived in the United States to live with his free-spirited mother, whose lifestyle clashed with his disciplined Muslim upbringing.

Friends and a relative said Mr. Headley dropped out of college and fell into trouble. In 1998 he was convicted of smuggling heroin into the United States, but avoided a long jail sentence by cooperating with the authorities. He later conducted undercover operations in Pakistan for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

In 2006, he moved to Chicago, where he has a wife and children. But he no longer stayed in touch with most members of his family, relatives said. It is not clear if he has any contact with a half-brother, Daniel Gilani, who is a spokesman for Pakistan’s prime minister.

I think he is a lone nutjob but the real question is, what do conspiracists in the Near East think?

HMM:  Obama is escalating like Johnson, violating borders like Nixon - what can he do to emulate Ford, fall out of Air Force One?

Comments

[bgates]

Oh, Tom, who on earth could think a Chicago-based Pakistani heroin dealer could have anything to do with the present government?

[clarice]

HEH--Spare the world free spirited American women marrying Moslems.They seem to breed crazies.

[matt]

next thing we're going to see John Kerry and crew sailing their swift boat into Balichistan....

[anduril]

1. So we're going to pacify Pakistan's NW Frontier with Predator drones. Riiiiight. Window dressing for Obama's re-election campaign.

2. Why are we letting these people into the country? This has nothing to do with paranoia--sensible, reality based precautions.

[fdcol63]

The idea that Obama and the Dems - who won't stay the course in Afghanistan, with a popoulation of 28 Million, in order to please the peaceniks and moonbats on their Left - would take even stronger military action in a nuclear-armed Pakistan with a population of 180 Million is .... laughable.

[Dave (in MA)]

HMM: Obama is escalating like Johnson, violating borders like Nixon - what can he do to emulate Ford, fall out of Air Force One?

No, he's skipping over Ford and heading straight into Carter mode.

[vinman]

how many times has the US asked Pawkistahn to pacify its outer territories? It's like there's been no precedent for this.

[PD]

OT: A caller (black, I think) to Rush is pointing out the hypocrisy of Harry Reid comparing opposition to the health care build to opposition to efforts to end slavery. He's pointing out that the bill requires people to have health insurance and thus increases our dependence on government. That is, it enslaves us to the government.

[matt]

PD;

Harry Reid is engaging in Newspeak on an unprecedented level. It's not just slavery, but women's rights and the Civil Rights act as well.

LUN.

[clarice]

On to DC!! (And a quick stop to my sharpened pickets R Us stand on your way into town:
The Gallup figures show Obama’s rating now stands at 47 per cent – the lowest ever recorded for any president at this point in his term of office.

And Ras says 76% of Americans prefer a free enterprise system.

Celebrate New Years surrounding the Capitol and EPA and keeping the bums OUT.

[Danube of Thought]

He can just call it an "incursion" and the media won't make a big deal out of it, right?

[Jane]

Hey Dot!

I'm conjuring up all sorts of people today!

[narciso]

Well the Predator is the Maxim gun for the 21st Century, when we have gone after AQ in the NorthWest Frontier there is always a complaint of one kind or another. Or are we following the notion that we are going to put any sizable number of troops, in the NW Frontier, to follow Biden's impeccable logic. (lol)

[PD]

And Ras says 76% of Americans prefer a free enterprise system.

But did you see this on Ras today?

A Rasmussen video report notes that 33% want the government to directly hire unemployed Americans.

I don't know what the percentage is in better economic times, but I find that a distressing figure.

Other economic news:

Mish: Nov. Jobs Report "Looked Fabricated", Expect Harder Times in 2010

Even based on generous assumptions of 150,000 new jobs per month, no double-dip recession and a declining participation rate as Baby Boomers retire, "the best I can do is suggest the unemployment rate will be over 10% all the way through 2015 and never dip below 8% all the way out through the end of 2020," Mish says.

[PD]

But don't worry, I have the solution to all our economic problems

It's just the sort of thing to restore your confidence in the electorate.

[clarice]

Great--and this piece from ABC makes me even more confident in our fabulous TSA:
"In a massive security breach, the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) inadvertently posted online its entire airport screening procedures manual, including some of the most closely guarded secrets regarding special rules for diplomats and CIA and law enforcement officers. The most sensitive parts of the 93-page Standard Operation Procedures were apparently redacted in a way that computer savvy individuals easily overcame. "

[Rick Ballard]

PD,

Declining tax deposits for November tend to confirm Mish's view. So do the ADP numbers.

[PD]

Rick, I guess that'll put a crimp in the president's big plan to use the money from TARP "that is working better than expected" to bring down the deficit.

[Frau Märchenland]

Like Kenya and Kansas, it's a love story of Philadelphia and Peshawar that soured somewhere along the way. Dual citizenship? Daood Gilani, er, David Headley seems to know which country he really belongs to.

[matt]

The new Contract with America:

1 - don't spend it if you don't got it.

2 - abolish the TSA

3 - base decisions on facts, not bullshit

4 - use common sense

5 - be fair with everyone

6 - equality of opportunity, not outcome.

7 - protect the weak

8 - reduce the federal Code by 50%

9 - enforce all laws equally

10 - flat tax and everyone pays.

now what the heck is so partisan about that?

[cathyf]

A Rasmussen video report notes that 33% want the government to directly hire unemployed Americans.

I don't know what the percentage is in better economic times, but I find that a distressing figure.

I dunno, depends on how the question was worded. If it was "...the government to directly hire unemployed Americans rather than funneling the graft through ACORN to set up brothels..." yeah, I'd have to agree with that, too.

[daddy]

Celebrate New Years surrounding the Capitol and EPA and keeping the bums OUT.

Posted by: clarice

Clarice,

I still think we need to have Sarah Palin standing by to do a book signing in the Capitol whenever these SOB's in Congress schedule the vote to jam thru Health Care.

If there is a better motivator to get angry folks out there screaming, I'm for it, but at the moment Palin is the biggest mobilizer of angry citizens at a moments notice that I can think of, so I hope we don't let this opportunity be missed like we did for the House Health Care vote last month.

Set it up in Lisa Murkowski's Senate Office for the exact date and time of the vote.

Regardless, I'm with you. We have to go on offense.

[daddy]

"Harry Reid is engaging in Newspeak on an unprecedented level. It's not just slavery..."

I wouldn't be too hard on Harry Reid. After all, he believes that ">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7mRSI8yWwg"> Paying income tax in America is Voluntary.

So what's slavery to you is simply a form of voluntary employment to Senator Reid.

[anduril]

"An attack on government buildings in Baghdad left hundreds dead or injured even as the presidential council set March 7 for the next national election. Overall, at least 133 people were killed and another 460 were wounded across Iraq. Increased violence is expected before those elections."

Let's hear it for The Surge: hip, hip...

[PD]

8 - reduce the federal Code by 50%

... each year.

[Jane]

Matt,

Can we abolish the EPA while you are at it? And the most important one - Congress cannot exempt themselves from any law they enact.

[narciso]

Stop being a jackass, anduril.

[bgates]

A Rasmussen video report notes that 33% want the government to directly hire unemployed Americans.

Hmm. I wonder how much of that is "those bums collecting welfare ought to have to pick up trash or something", and how much is "if the government dipped deep enough into its stash of free money, it could hire people to set up competition for the insurance industry, and the hamburger industry, and every kind of industry."

[Jane]

Daddy,

Some of us have been on the offense for a while - which is what the Tea parties are about. I see that movement growing exponentially - I got notice today of a DC gathering on Dec 15, and I guess from what Clarice posted another on New Years Day.

The bonus is that those gatherings are not only important, but also more fun than you can even imagine.

I'm not sure New Years is time enough - but I'm game if it can be organized. Of course no elected official will be in DC then.

[sbw]

A Rasmussen video report notes that 33% want the government to directly hire unemployed Americans.

We already do. It's called "Unemployment Insurance." The revolutionary idea would be to ask recipients to work for it.

[Rocco]

Big Hollywood is reporting that Joy Behar and Andrew Sullivan are smearing Sarah's family again.

Not knowing much about Behar, I did some googling and found this blog that states Behar nearly died from an ectopic pregnancy in 1979 and divorced her husband Joe in 1981.

Not knowing what an ectopic pregnancy was, I checked with webMD and found that an ectopic pregnancy occurs when the fertilized egg attaches someplace other than the uterus, aka a tubular pregnancy, and is caused by one or more of the following conditions.

* Smoking. The more you smoke, the higher your risk of an ectopic pregnancy.

* Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). This is often the result of an infection such as chlamydia or gonorrhea.

* Endometriosis, which can cause scar tissue in or around the fallopian tubes.

* Being exposed to the chemical DES before you were born.

If Sarah and her family are fair game, so is her ectopic pregnancy and what caused it!

[anduril]

harbingers of the next civil war...

[Captain Hate]

What do Joyless Behar and Marilyn Monroe have in common?

[Rocco]

I give up CH, what do Joyless Behar and Marilyn Monroe have in common?

[Danube of Thought]

"A Rasmussen video report notes that 33% want the government to directly hire unemployed Americans."

Follow-up question: What should the government hire them to do?

[narciso]

The Salafi are likely testing us, seeing as they've seen how tentative, and I'm being
charitable, Obama has been on Afghanistan, or it could be elements to tied to Ahmadinejad's
Iranian Guard contingent.

[Danube of Thought]

"Let's hear it for The Surge..."

Makes sense to deride it if you're incapable of imagining what things would be like had it not occurred. Otherwise, it's manifestly stupid.

[Melinda Romanoff]

DoT-

I just wish anduril would attest to pacifism and be done with it.

I can understand that, everything else is just window dressing.

[anduril]

Me a pacifist? You jest! I don't deride THE SURGE so much as the deluded people who believe that brought us victory in Iraq. Yesterday I linked the latest from George Friedman of Stratfor--his assessment of Iraq makes sense to me.

But Melinda, I went to a lot of trouble to analyze that Rand study re the French in Kabylia, at your urging, and you never wrote a word in response. I wrote a lot about the differences among the three situations--to utter silence.

[JM Hanes]

anduril is just channeling the Prez and Blaming Bush for Obama's mess.

[matt]

I have a number of friends who were the Surge, and it worked. Now, unfortunately, political decisions in Washington are screwing that up as well.

[daddy]

Daddy,

Some of us have been on the offense for a while."

Jane,

I hope you didn't take my comment as critical in any way. I greatly appreciate and admire you doing your radio show up against your co-host Dick. You're way a better man than I am in that regard. I'm just trying to suggest a way to help rally the troops on the critical Congressional voting day when that day comes, and I'd love to see Sarah in the middle of it.

I think we're all trying to do our part, and at least I gathered Tax Cap signatures in the parking lot and helped contribute on a local level at stopping run amuck politicians from continuing to rob us blind. I'm proud of so many folks on this Blog who fight the good fight day after day and I hope you folks realize the thanks we owe you guys for doing it. Sincere Thanks.

[Publius, a.k.a. The Idaho Publius]

To Matt's new Contract with America at 4:22 pm:

Now what the heck is so partisan about that?

#4 - use common sense

[Melinda Romanoff]

anduril-

snark withdrawn.

I do have to do other things at times, often unexpectedly, so no, I wasn't able to respond in a thoughtful manner.

I pointed to that piece by Rand to illuminate the history, or its modern nascency, of the COIN of Gen. Petraeus. I left out the actions of the Socialists in Paris, and their supporters in the media (where have I seen that before?), to force De Gaulle to withdraw from Algeria. Much like they forced the abandonment of Indochina. Noticing a pattern here?

Those were the only points I was trying to make, and was not able to find the time to do so in a responsible manner.

Next time I'll ask to take it aside for each of our benefit. If that's OK with you.

[anduril]

I don't know what "take it aside" means, but I guess that's fine. I do make every effort to respond to questions, objections, requests/demands for clarification and put some effort into it. This is especially the case since my views seem to generate anything from disagreement to outright animosity on this forum. Contrary to the opinion of some here, I am actually trying to communicate, so considered responses to my posts provide feedback that is appreciated.

I'd like to make one thing very clear. The fact that I consider the policies of the Bush administration to have been misguided does not in any way mean that I necessarily support the policy suggestions of his political opponents--I'm quite aware that those suggestions were often advanced for the sole purpose of gaining domestic political advantage (Obama's campaign statements re Afghanistan are a perfect example). Nor does the fact that I cite both conservative and liberal critics mean that I agree with them on any other issue than the issue for which I cite their views. One thing I do find discouraging is the herd mentality so many posters here exhibit.