china's role in this is interesting. now that theyve joined the rest of the world, im sure they dont want pk and india throwing n bombs around. i dont know what sort of overtures theyve made regarding pk in the past but id hope theyd keep them in check, just like theyve been doing with nk.
China sells weapons to Pakistan. Lots of weapons. Fighter jets, tanks, artillery, ships, cruise missiles, portable SAM's, etc. India is supplied mostly by Russia. China will try to protect its market. They don't want either throwing nuclear weapons around, but they won't sour relations and hurt their conventional arms sales with Pakistan.The Chinese are very avaricious, as shown by their support of the genocidal dictator in Sudan simply to protect their trade and to annoy us. China will obstruct us everywhere that it is in their interests to do so.
Because Rambo could creep up on all 5 of those "superhero's" and slit their throats in their sleep. On a serious note, this is an explosive situation. If the Taliban, or Al Queda were able to overthrow the government, we would have a major problem. I think Pakistan should disarm, and i think the United Nations should be doing everything it can to make that happen. That country is extremely unstable, and i agree with you, Pakistan is way more frightening than Iran is. Do you know which religious sect controls more of Pakistan?
That is less likely than civil war or general civil unrest with a weak government that allows war lords and political parties to arm and operate. The country could fragment and tempt India to invade and occupy the part that it wants' Pakistan will never disarm any more than we would. Once a country goes nuclear, the effort has already failed. 65% Sunni, 30% Shia, 5% other religiously. But ethnically Pakistanis are not Arabs. Most are ethnic Indians, the west area are ethnic Persians, and the mountains are ethnic Afghans. It has another 30 minor sects. The county is definitely not monolithic and could easily descend into ethnic conflict. It has been fear and hatred of Indian Hindus that has kept them together. They really don't need trouble with the US on top of that but they may not behave rationally. Over 54% of the country is illiterate, the worst rate in the world. It a strange country with a sophisticated urban middle-class but they have many urban and rural poor who only get information from illiterate mullahs who have memorized the Koran. It a blend of 21st century politics with a 12th century culture.
Looks like Steve made this site a major source for CNN. Red starts a thread about Pakistan and now CNN posts this: Pakistan test-fires pair of ballistic missiles - CNN.com Guess we need to be careful about what we talk about....
Interesting thread...I would be inclined to think that Pakistan is no trouble for the US. I am not aware of any direct conflict of interest and the Pakis have nuclear weapons because of India, not us. Pakistan is certainly an unstable place but I dont think they leave the keys to the nukes just laying around. the US government has conflicting intests with several governments but I dont think Pakistan is one of the. The BRIC countries are more likely to cause trouble about the reserve currency question, in my opinion. If they ever decide to move into the Special Drawing Right from the IMF then watch out....the only thing the American economy has going for it is that everyone uses our money. In short...the US military has no equal on the planet and any single country on its own would lose that fight. Most countries dont go around starting wars just to lose them. The American military is a much greater threat to Pakistan than visa versa... On the other hand, the US economy is hanging by a thread, as are most debt ridden countries at the moment...if the US gets blindsided by an event somewhere around the globe I would bet its a financial crises, currency crises or something like that. Whether the other countries start the crises on purpose is the question....anybody see that 1000 point drop on the Dow the other day....thats the type of thing I think will sideswipe the US.
