Obama administration is divided over future of U.S.-Pakistan relationship

WP ^ | 05/15/11 | Karen DeYoung and Karin Brulliard

[TigerLikesRooster]

Obama administration is divided over future of U.S.-Pakistan relationship

By Karen DeYoung and Karin Brulliard, Sunday, May 15, 9:44 AM

Two weeks after the death of Osama bin Laden, the Obama administration remains uncertain and divided over the future of its relationship with Pakistan, according to senior U.S. officials.

The discovery of the al-Qaeda leader in a city near Pakistan’s capital has pushed many in the administration beyond any willingness to tolerate Pakistan’s ambiguous connections with extremist groups. After years of ineffective American warnings, many U.S. officials are concluding that a change in policy is long overdue.

Those warnings are detailed in a series of contemporaneous written accounts, obtained by The Washington Post, chronicling three years of often-contentious meetings involving top officials of both countries. Confirmed by U.S. and Pakistani participants, the exchanges portray a circular debate in which the United States repeatedly said it had irrefutable proof of ties between Pakistani military and intelligence officials and the Afghan Taliban and other insurgents, and warned that Pakistani refusal to act against them would exact a cost.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Pakistan is as useful to rein on Al Qaeda and Talibans as China is to do on N. Korea. Which is not much.

[EGPWS]

Anything that divides Obama and his administration can't be so bad for us in the U.S. via slowing down the damage they can inflict.

[Vaquero]

“Foreign troops crossing the border into Pock-e-stan will not be liked by the people of Pock-e-stan. “

[TigerLikesRooster]

Hillary is having up-close and personal look on how inept Zero is, unable to take care of big issues and focusing on less important left-wing agendas. She can tell all about it with iron-tight credibility when she decides to challenge Zero in Democratic primary next year. She saw it personally.

[grey_whiskers]

Obama running our foreign policy is like a fish riding a bicycle.

Cheers!

[Sacajaweau]

This USA/Paki relationship has remained the same since the beginning. They are a nuclear power and became our ONLY available base for the war on terror.

I remember when we first went into Afghanistan. Osama, in one of his tapes, told his Pakistani fighters to stay in Pakistan...and wait...

This was very early in the fight...when the Northern army was at its' peak.

[ilovesarah2012]

John Bolton says we need Pakistan. Allen West says stop giving them money.

[Brilliant]

If they give us their a-bombs, I have no problem with continuing the relationship a little longer.

[FLCowboy,]

Obama’s argument that the US has to stay engaged with Pakistan because they are a nuclear power is hollow. It’s clear the US has no influence over Pakistan’s policies, and therefore, our relationship with them isn’t going to mean diddley if they decide to go rogue with their nuclear weapons.

I think India would act immediately against Pakistan in that event, as well as Leon Panetta.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Here is the pattern I can see: his underlings(cabinet members and intel/military leadership) overrule him, and act. If it is successful, he can take the credit for his “leadership.” Otherwise, he can claim that they went rogue and it is not his fault.

[bigbob]

Let me guess - Varlerie Jarrett wants to send them flowers...

[Carley]

Allen West doesn’t think cutting funding for Obamacare is an urgent issue.

[TigerLikesRooster]

And a note which says, “Alla Akbar.”

[ilovesarah2012]

“The debate over Healthcare is one of the most important issues we as Americans will have this century. It defines who we are as a nation and who we will be to the next generation.

While there are certain parts of President Obama’s healthcare law- “Obamacare”- that I support, including the segment on pre-existing conditions, overall I believe that the bill over-reaches the authority of the federal government, and needs to be repealed for a variety of reasons.

First, as we have seen unfold throughout our country, including right here in South Florida, the healthcare law has been detrimental to the survival and growth of small businesses. Employers are choosing to drop healthcare for their employees, which will flood the government-run system, eventually leading to lower-quality healthcare. Small businesses are beginning to hire part time instead of full time employees in order to avoid the requirement. And perhaps most concerning, since businesses with less than 51 employees are exempt from the new mandate requiring employers to provide healthcare, employers are choosing not to grow their businesses beyond a certain level.”

http://west.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4083&Itemid=300117

Rep. West (as I understand) believes piecemeal defunding is a waste of time. Perhaps it is, I don’t know.

“”It is for these reasons I stand by a vote in the House of Representatives to repeal ObamaCare. I will continue to work to replace this law with a patient-centered solution that restores health care choice for all Americans.”

http://www.west.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4137&Itemid=300128

He is on the right side of this issue, IMO.

[SERKIT]

Like the absent and confusing energy policy which is spooking the speculators, the absent and confusing foreign policy is spooking Americans and the rest of the civilized world.

Kadafi was convinced to end nuclear weapons programs, and bring Libya closer to civilization (although they had a long way to go), and we bomb the sh!t out of him.

We have a love-hate relationship with Pock-ee-stahn, and we invade a compound without their knowledge or permission, accuse them of aiding or looking the other way when bin Laden was under their noses, then we give them cash aid.

We invade a quasi-ally (Pak) to go after criminals, yet we arm narco-criminals in Mexico (Gunwalker), keep the borders leaking like a sieve, but won't take our military to our boarders and into Mexico to stop crime.

No wonder the signals coming out of the White Crib are mixed, and Barry's support is falling like a rock.

Yet, we still have the media that 'services' him like Larry, and have tinkle going down their collective legs.

[onedoug]

barry will side islamists regardless who they are.