The other thing that's interesting is watching all the senators run their fat yaps, generally. Senator Kerry speaks very articulately and knowledgeably, which makes sense inasmuch as he just returned from Pakistan. Other than his single bright shining gem of knowing shit, the other senators are asking the same questions over and over.
1) Why are we giving so much fucking money to Pakistan ($4 billion a year!)?
2) Is there a way to give them performance based aid?
3) What if they turn to China?
Somehow General Jones answered these same three questions from multiple people by addressing them the first time, and then used subsequent questions to provide more detailed information about our strategic relationship. The question about China is a little ridiculous, inasmuch as China has its own problems with Islamic extremists and any desire that China has to balance India's power will necessarily be qualified by their desire for internal security, as well as the fact the Pakistan is full of a bunch of religious crazies, has nuclear weapons, and has an insecure government. Sen. Kerry actually gave the most concise and pertinent response to the first question.
1) 50% of our supplies enter Karachi and go overland through Pakistan to reach Afghanistan.
2) The Pakistani army has suffered approximately 6,000 killed in action fighting the Taliban in Pakistan, a greater number of KIA than the US military in Afghanistan.
3) Obama's policies regarding Pakistan have led to the most significant damage to Al Qaeda in the entire war on terror. Those policies include increased drone strikes and presumably special operations within Pakistan that are unpopular within Pakistan. The Pakistani government has facilitated the war on terror at significant political cost to themselves.
4) Obviously there's room for improvement.
Gen Jones answered the second question by basically saying, "Sort of, but it's complicated."
Things that I noticed were lacking from the discussion:
1) Pakistani corruption. Some random thing that I recently read noted that of the $1.2 billion dollars in humanitarian aid given to Pakistan to deal with their recent floods, only $720 million reached flood victims, leaving some $500 million presumably lost to graft. Corruption is a significant impediment to the development of a functional economy as well as popular belief that the government is acting in the popular best interest.
2) Pakistan's irrational fear/hatred of India. Someone really needs to emphatically point out to the Pakistanis that now that they have nuclear weapons, India won't invade them. Someone should also probably point out that terrorism isn't an effective foreign policy tool, and simply makes a disastrous nuclear conflict (which is in no one's interest) more likely.
3) The way that they've conducted business has turned their nation into a seething cesspool of instability. If Pakistan would clean up their act and seriously invest in reducing corruption, developing infrastructure, developing education, and developing an economy instead of slyly funneling our aid money to build hundreds of nuclear bombs and developing new delivery systems, they would end up having a real country with real allies. As it stands, they're totally alone with only tentative friends because they're a bunch of crazies and fuck-ups.
I realize that it's been a while between posts, for which I apologize. I started writing a second book, which has been distracting. If you want to read the first book, go here. I apologize for how horrible the formatting is on that blog, as well as the poor character development and lack of a plot. I'm pretty content with the actual sentences, though.
The new one's about political philosophy, and involves the sentence "The establishment of power relationships based on the use or implication of force is the most fundamental aspect of human interaction. "
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