Comments on Informed Comment: Bombing Pakistan back to the Stone Age A controv...

Armitage is being fed to the wolves, and the packs...

2006-09-24T22:14:00.000-04:00

Armitage is being fed to the wolves, and the packs on both sides of the fence seem to be enjoying it immensely. Can anyone here tell how they would have handled the task of bringing Pakistan onboard unequivocally and quickly in September, 2001, especially given that it was well known that they had been strong supporters of the Taliban? This was probably the job Armitage had been handed.

Armitage is no diplomat, he's a in your face person. At the same time, it is hypocrisy feeling any remorse regarding Musharraf. He's the head of a military junta that overthrew a democratically elected government in Pakistan. He was head of the ISI in the 80s when they were receiving massive covert funding to train and arm the Arab 'freedom fighters'. I find his denials regarding Pakistan's Nuclear proliferation less than plausible. He supported Kashmiri terrorists in the past. Pakistan is not an ally in the Global War on Terrorism.

Bush's alliance with Pakistan is an egregious example of his hypocritical implementation of spreading Democracy throughout the world. Bush's denial of knowledge of the threat is unconvincing. He had already been on record stating that you're either with us or against us, and that anyone who supports terrorists was an enemy of the USA. Why the consternation now?

Why would everyone be biting at the bit to get at Armitage, who has already been villified? The question should be, who is behind this rather timely release of data, and what is the real underlying purpose?

In the interviews that I have heard with Richard A...

2006-09-23T14:50:00.000-04:00

In the interviews that I have heard with Richard Armitage in response to the "stone age" remarks, he hasn't denied using the words. Instead what he denies is threatening Pakistan with bombs, adding that he had no authority or power to make any such threats. So, he may have very well made the vary statement he is attributed with not as threat, but rather as a warning. Perhaps a friendly warning.

Welcome to the fine chopped words of diplomats and politicians.

Musharraf is caought beteween the hard-right who i...

2006-09-23T14:28:00.000-04:00

Musharraf is caought beteween the hard-right who is ethnically and politically aligned with the Taliban and the centrist who want a way out of the Indo-Pak mess. My bigest fear is what would happen if Musharraf capitulates by any means other than a peaceful transition of power. If the president of Pakistan is murdered or deposed, could the U.S. secure/destroy the Pakistani nuclear arsenal before it falls into teh wrong hands?

Juan, I wasn't alas receiving your emails back in ...

2006-09-23T10:35:00.000-04:00

Juan, I wasn't alas receiving your emails back in sept 2001. But I certainly remember many references then and shortly afterwards to the "back to the Stone Age" threat. I think it was even written about in one of the big "instant history" volumes-- either by Bob Woodward or Ron Susskind.

So when Musharraf mentioned it again this week I wasn't surprised by the content at all. More, intrigued as to the context in which he was saying this. Was he, perhaps, all charged up to hear the rhetoric coming from Ahmadinejad, Hugo Chavez, etc, and eager to put his own two-cents'-worth into the discussion? (Also, evidently, to sell books. Now that's an interesting new force in international discourse, don't you think?)

But then, I thought to Google around a bit and look for some of those earlier refs. I couldn't find them. (Should have used Google Book... I know, I know.) But now, here you have very effectively presented us with some near-contemporaneous data about Rich Armitage's (un-)diplomatic "demarche. Thank you so much for posting this!

One can't be anymore confident about the strength ...

2006-09-23T04:36:00.000-04:00

One can't be anymore confident about the strength of Cole's info & analysis after reading his 5 years back writing and hearing Musharraf's recent "disclosure" of threat from US over Afghan issue.

Writing from Pakistan, I can tell Professor was dead right even about the minute details as "not all were present in All-parties Conference'! Excellent job Professor.

In this world where information is probably the biggest asset, IC is an asset free of cost. What we have to do is to utilize this asset properly.

Thanx Cole
azeem, Islamabad, Pakistan