Nations have grievances. Look at the Balkans, always fighting over some mid-fourteenth century slight. But most leaders have the good sense to recognize that the rest of the world might find their problems slightly ridiculous. Asif Zardari, widower of Benazir Bhutto and possessor of big enough balls to become famously corrupt in Pakistan – reflect, [...]
Archive for the ‘South Asia’ Category
Blame
Posted in Military, South Asia, Weapons of Mass Destruction on December 11, 2009 | 4 Comments »
The Wrong Way, Slowly
Posted in Middle East, Military, Obama, South Asia, War on Terror on December 7, 2009 | 7 Comments »
For the first seventeen years of the Peloponnesian War, Athens and Sparta fought to something of a draw. Sparta dominated the land, but could not breach Athens’ walls. Athens dominated the sea, but could not march inland with enough force to defeat Sparta.
Change for the Sake of Change
Posted in Industrial Policy, Labor Policy, Middle East, Obama, South Asia, War on Terror, Weapons of Mass Destruction on December 2, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Still trying to process all of my objections to the current Afghan strategy into something moderately coherent, so I’ll start with a very different story: Fritz Henderson was rather suddenly and unceremoniously dismissed as CEO of GM. General Motors Co. Chief Executive Officer Fritz Henderson resigned after eight months on the job as directors concluded [...]
Reform Week: Foreign Policy
Posted in Dick Cheney, Foreigners, George W. Bush, Middle East, Military, Obama, South Asia, War on Terror, Weapons of Mass Destruction on September 11, 2009 | 7 Comments »
Eight years.
Silk Road
Posted in Africa, China, Foreigners, Germany, Middle East, Military, North Korea, Russia, South Asia, War on Terror on July 9, 2009 | 1 Comment »
And then the riots were in China: This shouldn’t be surprising. It just is.
Unconditional Support
Posted in Military, South Asia, War on Terror, Weapons of Mass Destruction on April 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Seems Pakistan wants money, well, just because: Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari told two top U.S. envoys that his country needs “unconditional support” in a range of areas to defeat the al-Qaida and Taliban fighters threatening its survival. The sentiments reflect Pakistani dissatisfaction with American pledges to tack conditions onto billions in expected aid funds [...]
House Arrest
Posted in South Asia, Weapons of Mass Destruction on December 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
House arrest? Wow, way to crack down. They must be really mad. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081211/wl_nm/us_india_mumbai_85 Extraditing him would show serious cooperation. Killing him would show practicality – in an Indian prison, LeT’s long history of working with the Pakistani government in Kashmir is going to come out – but still show some amount of course correction. But [...]
Osama Question
Posted in George W. Bush, Military, South Asia, War on Terror on January 24, 2006 | Leave a Comment »
Something has baffled me during the coverage of the missile attack that hit no one of consequence…why just a missile? As far as I can gather from the news coverage, large sections of what is nominally Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan are effectively outside of any central authority – something they have in common [...]
Taliban Chiefs Prove Elusive
Posted in George W. Bush, Military, South Asia, War on Terror on December 20, 2001 | Leave a Comment »
The weird thing about this fight is that it really is, and has been, purely a question of our own will. There was a serious chance of defeat at Normandy, no matter how hard we tried (in fact, had Rommel’s forward defense plan not been rejected, we almost assuredly would have suffered the worst one-day [...]
Intense Raids
Posted in Military, South Asia, War on Terror on October 30, 2001 | Leave a Comment »
Unless the military expects an odd run of good luck, why on earth are they bombing tunnels? That’s like firing a rifle shot into a crowd and expecting the bullet to find the bad guy. It will be far easier to get to bin Laden when the Northern Alliance controls the territory around the tunnels. [...]
