Resolution in US Congress for suspending Pak military aid

[Spring Onion]

Hmm. Bush wants BB to go away, as she would cause alot of problems since Bush has a buddy-buddy relationship with Mush in the eyes of the western media. However, there is no way to make her go away and even be pretending to respect democracy at the same time, and so his advisers come up with a ridiculous power sharing plan. Regardless of what happens, so long as Islamofacists don't come into power, the IT money will not leave. The Issue is all of the loans the U.S has been giving out, and the military support. That is going to disappear if things continue down there current road, which is either Mush officially and totally a military dictator, or with yet another corrupt civillian government. The ugly bit is that depending on how the situation unfolds, the U.S. might conclude that it needs to deal with the AQ holed up in the tribal areas personally, since it can't trust the current leadership. This is unlikely though, since they seem fairly well contained at the moment (No attacks inside the US since 9/11). Mostly the administration won't be able to do anything but sit and cringe if General M. refuses to back down, and then punitively cut off aid. This all simply pushes Pakistan into the sphere of Chinese influence etc. etc. etc. Bad news for the US in any case, and the CIA can't simply find a new strong man, not with this many camera's, and the fact that Pakistan's military is very disciplined. BB makes the news simply because she looks like the persecuted woman in the Muslim country. That sells, seeing as women in the U.S make about 40% of the money, and control more like 70% because their husbands don't want to be bothered with it.

iguess you are not following the new scheme of US agenda.

BB is backed by US and they are now trying to save the once much talked about BB-Musharraf deal about a month back which had been tornished by recent events.
US was all happy to tame musharraf but lately he had been to hard a nut to crack rather i think Musharraf has marred all plans of US by refusing 6 vital demands of US and these points are strategicaly important for us.

As far Musharraf Replacement BB had already assured US on all demands including opening our nuke programme for monitoring.
to go all out in tribal belt.

 

[Tang0]

BB is not the horse the U.S is backing, you may get the impression from the media, but don't let that fool you. Bush doesn't want to look like a fool, and reversing directions in midstream will do exactly that. CIA/Pentagon like military strongmen, BB ain't that. Do democrats on the hill like her? Yeah sure, but they have little say in the matter according to the US constitution, and just how quickly the situation is developing. Is the U.S keeping trying to keep BB out of prison? Surely, but that is about appearances, nothing else. They keep BB afloat because it makes Mush seem like less of a dictator in western eyes.
To understand U.S policy, you have to understand that they know they are a superpower, and want to use some of that power, and also that in the end they are still accountable to the US public, which is fickle. The public likes BB's story, it is so...stereotypical. Big bad military strongmen and Islamic extremists trying to destroy one womans quest for democracy... (I can see the stupid, sappy made-for-TV movie now) I'm not saying this is in any way attached to reality, but the average person in the U.S knows nothing about the politics of Pakistan, and so this is a believable story. Trust me on this stuff, I do, ya know, live in the country in question. I am not saying that things might not change and Washington might not get in line for BB, but it certainly has not happened yet.

I see a whole lot of misconceptions about western thought, and the power and influnce of the CIA bandied about on these boards. You have to look at both what the US does, what it says (Through the media and through official outlets) and most importantly who in the US is saying those things. To date, the people in power are saying they still support Mush so long as he "Returns to Democracy", and what they have been doing is giving billions of dollars to a Musharraf led government over the last 5 years.

 

[BATMAN]

Thanks for that...I was wondering how in the world India started influencing US foreign policy in ways even its allies find hard to do.

I'm confused with so much opposite opinions, some of you say Musharraf is acting for American interests and now you admit India has more influence over US foreign policy in comparison to its allies?
The subject news actually tend us to belive your version!

But, there should be no doubt that cutting military aid will definately hamper US fight on terror. No country of the world can deliver so much at same cost, not even America's own Army can match the success of Pakistan in war on terror.
Obviously, any such campaign is an attempt to sabotage the most successful alliance in war against terror.

 

[Tang0]

I think that response by Stealth Assassin was a little bit of sarcasm. India does not have much in the way of influence in the US, it just sends alot of kids to our universities, and Indians run alot of gas stations on the east coast.

Pakistan in the news at the moment because it is full of Islamic extremists who support Bin Laden and his gang on the northwestern frontier, and also happens to have nukes. The combination makes the U.S. public nervous, despite the opinion of people who actually know what is happening. The political drama is old hat to people in Pakistan, but the U.S media and public was beginning to get the impression that Pakistan and India are rapidly developing world players and stable states. This is not the case in reality, as they are hampered by dire poverty, and previously mentioned divergent armed factions. As such, they begin to apply the standards of a western nation. If sh*t like is happening in Pakistan today was happening in say...France or Germany,it would be an indication that the country was literally falling apart. In Pakistan, it means nothing of the sort. US public applies the standards of Western democracy to a country where 60% of the population can't read, and interprets recent political unrest as a sign that the military government will be overthrown, revolution, insane AQ affiliated radicals might take power...Yada..Yada..Yada.

As for Pakistani sucesses in the war on terror...Armed groups who supported terrorists openly operated within it's borders. And every couple of months you hear the CIA or Army say "If we just could have chased those guy over the border we might have caught them!"
This may not accurately reflect reality, but in Washington, impression is often the only reality that matters. The current administration probably will not cut funding, but the next is almost guaranteed to be led by one of the Democrats, who have all been cavorting about the nation during primary elections saying how they would "Shake things up" with the US-Pakistan relationship.
Time will tell, I am mostly just theorizing.