Hoovering Up the Middle East

I see someone besides myself has noticed all the “leaking” going on in the upper echelons of Washington over our rocky relationship with Pakistan. Suddenly Islamabad is on the verge of being classified as part of the Axis of Evil, with the head of the joint chiefs, Admiral Mullen, openly accusing the Pakistanis of “sanctioning” the killing of a journalist, and allying with a faction of the Taliban. Since when does a military man – the titular uniformed head of the US armed force, no less – speak out on such sensitive political matters? Why, when he has the full backing of the White House – which obviously has plans for the Pakistanis.

  Justin Raimondo

Yeah, I think the major military pronouncements have been a part of the picture since the Cheney-Bush wars. I couldn’t tell you about earlier presidencies. I wasn’t paying attention. I had a life. Or maybe I just thought I did.

The someone besides himself JR is talking about here is Glen Greenwald.

Signs of Iran’s warming relations with Pakistan culminated in the agreement to build a gas pipeline that will transport Iranian gas to Pakistani ports, throwing the hard-pressed regime in Tehran an economic lifeline. The pipeline is expected to be operational in six months. This does much to explain the recent flurry of anti-Pakistan rhetoric coming out of Washington.

Very much.

The Pakistan-haters in the administration – of which there seem to be plenty – were quick to draw the conclusion that [Osama bin Laden had] been hiding with the knowledge and cooperation of the Pakistani military – because of the hideout’s proximity to an elite military academy.

I just can’t shake the idea that he’d been hiding there with the full knowledge of the CIA until somebody decided there was a need to dispose of him. In fact, I can’t shake the idea that he was dead when they “found” him, and by the terms of their deal with him (or someone close to him), it was then time to claim a victory. Come on, people, he was there for a very long time.

Which is odd, since it is well known that al-Qaeda operatives were living in the US for years, undetected, as they planned the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Heck, FBI agents in the field warned Washington after one of the terrorists took flight training lessons and was reported for suspicious activities – to no avail.

Suggesting that US intelligence is inept. I don’t think that’s a good enough explanation. There were lots of clues, and there are people who swear they rang out warnings and were told to be quiet. In fact, right here, Raimondo mentions the FBI agents warning about the flight training lessons, which were suspicious in themselves, as reportedly, the students only wanted to know how to get airborn, and weren't interested in landing lessons. That could be a lie, but between the two explanations – US intelligence is totally inept, or US intelligence is no better than its top dogs want it to be – I’m going with the latter.

The ultimate prize for US imperialism in the Middle East – the jewel in the crown of the emerging American empire – is Iran, long the chief target of the War Party’s attention.

[...]

While keeping the heat on for a direct attack on Iran, the powerful pro-Israel lobby – the driving force behind the anti-Iran crowd – is biding its time, confident they’ll win in the end. In the meantime, they are carefully building up momentum for the final push toward war, and a key part of that is agitating for a complete break in US-Pakistan relations.

[...]

Shorn of its obstreperous military leaders, who entertain delusions of autonomy, Pakistan will be fully integrated into the American orbit – and Iran will be surrounded on all sides.

[...]

The Lobby’s fingerprints are all over the latest anti-Pakistani agitprop. It was one Simon Henderson, described as the resident “expert” on Pakistan’s nuclear capabilities at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), who recently released an alleged letter from a top official of the North Korean regime “proving” Pakistan supplied Pyongyang with nuclear technology. WINEP was founded by Martin Indyk, former research director of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)

That this letter is a forgery seems almost beyond doubt: after all, why would a North Korean write a letter to a Pakistani in English? And, come to think of it, why would such a letter be written at all, given its highly incriminating content? Yet – as recent history shows – when it comes to disseminating US government propaganda, such outlets as the Washington Post and the New York Times don’t have very high standards. Nobody really cares if any of this is credible, let alone true.

Nope. As a lawyer in whose firm I once worked said to his witness on the telephone one day, “We’re not interested in the truth, here.”

And this is news to me…

From what I can discern, the Obama-ites have continued a program initiated by the Bush regime in Iranian Baluchistan, supporting the Jundallah armed grouping which carries out attacks on Iranian civilians and government officials. Could it be the Pakistanis are finally giving in to Iranian demands and no longer allowing this US-backed terrorist band to operate from bases in their territory? Islamabad has long held this prospect over the heads of its erstwhile allies in Washington.

…but not surprising.

At this point, war with – or in – Pakistan seems almost inevitable: the question is not if, but when.

Sadly, likely.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.