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Those videos that you see on CNN, etc. where the taliban is seen jumping through hoops, etc. were all courtesy of the Indian intel agencies. The first country to offer the US assistance right after 9/11 was India. India does not need F-18s to strike Pakistan. Pakistan needs F-16s to drop nukes in India. Do you get it? Do you understand the gravity of this blunder by Bush and Condi? Watch for a India-China axis by the time Bush is out of office.

"The first country to offer the US assistance right after 9/11 was India. "

Ah. . .no. Egypt. Not that anyone would know from media reports, but within hours certain Egyptian officials flew to DC and began coordination/consultations and started to provide real support. . .not just words.

Acta non Verba. Do you still keep your license from the zoo? (It's a KP thing, others probably don't know what we're talking about).

Here's a thought to consider...Pakistan doesn't have an edge sharp enough to go toe to toe with India in an aerial dogfight. Indian pilots are VERY good.

Furthermore, if the Pakis were to send a nuke into India, they wouldn't risk it with a multi-million dollar aircraft. Both India and Pakistan would send that sort of munition by camel, donkey, technical vehicle, or whatever low-grade and impossible to trace vehicle is available (for political deniable purposes). Neither of the two nations have enough strength to keep their own populations from internal fighting.

F-16s are relics compared to newer fighters. Here's an historical parallel: the Russian Mig was superior to the US Sabre, yet the training provided by the US had Americans clearly ahead in the air war over Korea. India has far superior pilots over Pakistan. Pakistan having F-16s doesn't give them an edge.

Finally, Pakistan had purchased F-16s long before "W" was President. I recall one of Pakistan's Prime Ministers embarrassing President Clinton during her visit to the US basically addressing, on TV even, "give us our jets, or give us our money back." I'll accept any correction if I'm wrong about that.

It has taken quite a convincing for Pakistan to remove its extremist and the Pakis in charge have done far more than what radical Jihadism (in their own neighborhoods to boot) would ever allow. Allowing the Falcon purchase is probably a reward of trust. A squadron of outdated F-16s won't upset the balance of power in the region. If they were sold F-15s, then that would be a very different story. Instead, the US has made an effective political and business deal. If the Pakis didn't buy "Made in the USA", they would have bought a Euro-fighter or similar aircraft, and the money would have transferred to the EU.

I can't speak for Indians, but I'm sure that they're not overly optimistic about Pakistan having F-16s. But if any air power knows dog fighting, India probably knows the F-16's pro & cons the best (considering it's training with the USAF).