J. Clarke wrote:
> says...
>
>> Basically, it is an act of war against a sovereign nation. No matter
>> what excuse you come up with, you can't just send troops into a foreign
>> country and shoot things up. Pakistan is not in a position to do
>> anything about it.

It's an act of war against a theoretical ally. On the other hand
hosting Bin Laden was effectively an act of war against the US, just
less directly. It was joining an existing war, technically joining an
existing police action but that's a technicality.

> The Hell they aren't. They have nuclear weapons and access to an
> established and proven-effective terrorist network.
>
>> They could never confront he US armed forces and it's
>> leadership depends too much on the American money that goes into their
>> pockets. They already know that the way to screw the US is to back
>> terrorists....like bin Laden.

Which a portion of their population wants to do. It's a reason we
support an unpopular government. It's a mesh, as usual for foreign
policy. The long term fall out will be a mess, as usual for foreign
policy.

> And if they are doing that then any action the US takes against Pakistan
> is justified.

Not a good thing as the US military continues to ramp down in Iraq and
their mission in Afghanistan gradually switches to building
infrastructure. Thus a gradual increase int he ability of the US
military to deal with issues in other places. The time to overwhelm the
US military because they were too busy elsewhere is beginning to pass.

"Dave Bugg" > wrote in message
...
>
> My son, Caleb, will be deploying to Afghanistan on May 18, with his
> brigade, for his first tour. He is a 1st Lieutenant, a Ranger, who is in
> charge of a light infantry platoon which will be stationed by themselves
> out in the frontier at a COP (Combat OutPost). Sort of an updated version
> of a Firebase during Vietnam. The terrain is so rugged, they have to fly
> in by Chinooks. Light armored vehicles, like the Bradley, cannot even
> operate in such areas, much less heavy armor.
>
>
> --
> Dave
>

Godspeed to your son, Dave.

Paco wrote:
> "Dave Bugg" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>> My son, Caleb, will be deploying to Afghanistan on May 18, with his
>> brigade, for his first tour. He is a 1st Lieutenant, a Ranger, who
>> is in charge of a light infantry platoon which will be stationed by
>> themselves out in the frontier at a COP (Combat OutPost). Sort of an
>> updated version of a Firebase during Vietnam. The terrain is so
>> rugged, they have to fly in by Chinooks. Light armored vehicles,
>> like the Bradley, cannot even operate in such areas, much less heavy
>> armor. --
>> Dave
>>
>
> Godspeed to your son, Dave.

Thanks, Paco. He and his fiancee are visiting during his final leave time
before deployment. Today we went shopping at costco and picked up a whole
truckload of snacks, treats, wetwipes, soap, deodorant, etc, etc..... Then
it was off to the postoffice to grab a stack of the large flat-rate shipping
boxes. We can get a whole heck of a lot into a box and the postage is only
$13.95 to ship overseas to an APO address. We plan on sending care packages
on a real regular basis.

We also bought a bunch of trinkets and toys and puzzles and stuff to ship to
Caleb's platoon. Caleb wants to be able to distribute them to the kids in
the villages that he and his men will be in contact with.

--
Dave
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion,
butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance
accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders,
give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new
problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight
efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."