Re: U.S. Troops to Head to Pakistan
All jokes aside did anyone read the details of the new agreement described through the link? Directly finance a separate tribal para-military force? This is an explosive measure. Basically they are creating a second military, populated by the tribals and financed by (= under control of the US commanders) the US. The word directly can only mean one thing - that Pakistani govt, intelligence and military will not intervene in the formation of this force.
No doubt that will be effective in quelling the current unrest in the frontier. But what happens in a couple of years? You have the Pakistani military and then there is this "triba" para-military...only this time the latter is a well organized, funded trained institutionalized army identifying themselves separate from Pakistan.
What do you think the next logical consequence of that is?
From my Indian point of view I don't know whether this will be further trouble in the borders for us or not, but wonder how you guys feel about this
This is not acceptable to me as an American. Foreign policy is becoming too neo-imperialist, and this is exactly what would happen some years down the line. However, things don't ever work out in a linear way - there are a multitude of factors, and the Pakistan-American situation is not the only one that America is dealing with for the time being. And if the democrats win the new election, who knows what would happen? It could go either way. Obama has already pledged to bomb Pakistan.
But one thing is for sure. Setting up US-control of any tribal areas is not going to be as easy as it seems, let me reassure you. The tribals have their ways, and they have done everything to resist being controlled by the Pakistani government. I don't know how they'll take to white people telling them what to do?
It could be very Afghani-esque.
By the way, don't be fooled. America is entering recession right now, and their whole lowering-interest-rates stunt ain't gonna do much. The Iraq war is draining us intensely. And jobs are going off overseas. These two factors combined are killing the country. In the end, its economics that calls the shots, so depending on how downward the economy goes, this plan of setting up a para-military force might not be successful, esp if the tribals decide to not take orders the way Americans are expecting them to. The American campaigns will only go better if they take the time to really understand the culture and its people they're dealing with, and they've done a pretty bad job of it so far.