Even if invading Iraq was warranted (and I certainly don't hold that opinion), the move was made long before the Afghanistan campaign was properly finished.

Is that a "yes"?

Have you ever met an Irishman, Tlaloc?

Uh yeah. My work has a big site in Ireland and they come here for seed training. And your point is?

Pape's conjecture isn't about militarism, military dictatorship, or any of a thousand other possibilities. It's about occupation. Period. And Pakistan doesn't fit the definition.

Then neither did Ireland. That's all I'm saying. If you want to take such a narrow definition of occupation then of course it will break down.

Quick question: is Chechnya currently occupied by a foreign power? Well it depends on who you ask. A Russian may say no while a Chechnyan may say yes. Because "foreign" is a term that can mean more than official boundaries.

Ireland wasn't under foreign occupation technically since they and Englad were part of Great Britain

Have you ever met an Irishman, Tlaloc?

Pape's conjecture isn't about militarism, military dictatorship, or any of a thousand other possibilities. It's about occupation. Period. And Pakistan doesn't fit the definition.

Several things struck me about this incident. First, I wonder how this incident jibes with Robert Pape’s hypothesis of the connection between suicide attacks and military occupation. Who is occupying Pakistan?

Uh... you are aware that Pakistan is basically a military dictatorship, right? They might not be under a foriegn occupation (although that's debatable depending how you want to define the country- Ireland wasn't under foreign occupation technically since they and Englad were part of Great Britain) but they are most certainly under military rule.

but the Taliban & the warlords have regained enough strength in AFG that Karzai & Musharraf no longer have real control in their own nominal countries (if, indeed, they ever did)

Do you think we need more troops in Afghanistan?

The question is whether the people staging attacks in PAK are doing so because they see it as a chance to attack the US by proxy, or whether they simply want to further destabilize the region, allowing Taliban influence to spread further. My bet is on the latter.