The US seems to be finally realising that the nucleus of terrorism is not Iraq but the Pak-Afghan border where Musharraf has bartered an agreement with the Taliban to 'live and let live'. How far will the US be willing to go if it is really serious about ending terrorism?
To answer your question, I'd say no .. Before elections at least. But where the hell is proof of this statement? lol
Musharraf is realizing that agreement was a mistake. I thought paki troops were finally going in there, no? I remember a few weeks ago, suicide bombers started hitting the capital or something, didn't they? US/Paki have an agreement not to enter their territory. One story a month or so back said that Paki agreed to let troops in, but I haven't seen any confirmation nor seen any news reports of real action in those areas. So who knows. Pakistan faces the problem that those regions are barely under its control and has more support for the Taliban than the pakistan leadership, so going in there full force would result in a civil war probably; with nuclear weapons as the prize. Not a pretty situation.
It wouldn't make any economic sense. Oil is in Iran and Venesuela, not in Pakistan. It may not matter for Cheney whom to attack, but Bush's interest is in oil-rich countries
Actually, Pakistanis find "Paki" very offensive. Its similar to calling blacks "nigger". Of ocurse, in the US, it may not be so, but here in the UK, that is deemed a very racist term.
there is also the fact that there are a lot of pashtoons in the pakistani army and nobody can guess what they would do in case of a big conflict. i hope that bush doesn't make a mistake here.
how you figure? It seems to me that every major decision has to run through congress as well...so would you say they have screwed up as well?
It is difficult to say. If US feels Pakistan army isn't able to handle the militia, it will surely attack. There isn't much time left for Bush now. For how things are right now, it seems democrats will win in 2008. If they withdraw troops before the region stabilizes, Taliban will make a comeback. This time the Taliban will attack not only Afghanistan's government, they will target Pakistan too. ========================================================== Oh..I never knew that. Pak means pure..isnt it? . Actually when I searched for "Paki", I found so many Pakistanis using Paki word to describe themselves. e.g. www.paki.com is a portal about Pakistan.
How do you know? lol .. By the way, Do you think Pakistan is this weak that a militia of 12,000 or so strength can think of attacking Pakistan? If so, one of our very loving neighbor have had invaded us 60 years ago lol. Well, Pakistanis don't take it as offensive .. but ya, in UK it became a racist term in late 1960s to call immigrants from Pakistan and Pakistani-looking South Asians. In short, its like calling someone from Britain a Brit. And is not offensive.
Terrorists never fight a direct war. They hide among civilians and use guerrilla warfare. If they can give US forces a hard time in Afghanistan, they can surely create a lot of trouble for the Pakistani forces. In fact they already are doing it. Source:
It would be deemed racist if he was referring to an individual mate but in his defense he was abbreviating it when referring to the country itself. USA/Paki or USA/Pak are both terms people use. I live in the UK too and it is a very derogatory term when applied directly to a person. e.g "I cannot believe that Paki charged me 55p for a pint of milk."
there is a posibility that at some point the taliban alqaida and their pakistani aupporters might try to get musharaf out of power. the pakistan army had supported the taliban up to 2001. there is a large element in the army that might not like attacking the stronghold of the taliban and pakistani pashtun. the question is will there be a military revolt against musharaf if he attacks these people or will they follow orders.
The US has been for many years saying that Musharraf is its best bet in that part of the world, but is now slowly realising that supporting him is not getting them closer to winning the 'war on terror'. It is high time US reworks its strategy in the region.
I understand that Lorien wrote 'Paki' as a way to describe Pakistanis or as a shortened version. Also, in the US, it may be completely OK to say Paki as it may not be offensive at all. But here in the UK, trust me, if someone (a non Asian) called an Asian a Paki, they would be very upset because the term has taken on a racist meaning unfortunately.