I don't always trust my own opinions or statements (and nor should you), so:
The first thing to note is that the (linked) security situations in Pakistan and Afghanistan have been getting significantly worse over the past 18 months. That is bad news-- because civil strife is always bad news-- first and foremost for the people of the two countries. See, for example, this report of mass arrests in Islamabad.
These situations are also a symptom of the reckless disregard with which the Bushites have viewed every single development in the world since their attention became obsessively focused on Iraq, in 2005-2006.
They are also, like the ongoing deterioration in Palestine, a symptom of the fact that the other big and emerging powers in the world either do not want to step in and stop the US from playing the blocking/disruptive role it has been playing, or they are unable to.
US strategic power everywhere in the world is eroding rapidly. The causes of this erosion are real and deepseated enough. But it is certainly only being accelerated by the Keystone Cops-ish ineptitude of the way US "diplomacy" is being handled.
Friday night, Condi Rice called Pakistani Pres. Musharraf and "warned" him against declaring martial law. The people in the State Dept. also apparently
told the press Rice had done so. Musharraf , who has received more than $10 billion in US aid since 2001, swept the warning away like a minor irritant.So who's giving Condi and Bush advice on how to handle Washington's diplomacy? It looks amateurish and desperate.
However, I don't want to mock the Bushites too much. I'm a bit afraid that if they feel themselves to be in too much of a corner internationally they might take some rash and drastic action...
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