Comments on: The Ungoverned

By: charles johnson

charles johnson — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 01:27:48 +0000

We're finding out in Afghanistan that those kinds of hard-terrain, lawless tribal regions are essentially uncontrollable by foreign armies. We've been in Afghanistan for 7 years now and we control little more than Kabul. We aren't doing much better than the Soviets did there, and we're going to have to go home at some point and it looks like when we do, the Taliban will reestablish control. Expanding our Afghanistan stalemate into Pakistan would not be wise. It would accomplish more of what we're accomplishing in Afghanistan--nothing--while costing still more lives and billions.

By: International Retaliations (The Trouble With…) - The Opinionator Blog - NYTimes.com

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:07:37 +0000

[...] Dave Schuler at Outside the Beltway thinks Kagan’s idea is admirable but, like so many of its ilk, founders on the shoals of reality: [...]

By: Bithead

Bithead — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:50:40 +0000

How about Pakistan approaching the real powers of the world and saying:
"This is beyond our ability to control. Can you help us out, here?" ... seems aresponsible way to go. To some degree that is what Mushariff tried to do.

By: ken

ken — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:13:52 +0000

That’s why, rather than undermining the Westphalian system by strengthening generally unaccountable international institutions or non-government actors, I favor supporting it. Pakistan needs to be held accountable for what goes on within its borders. That’s the international consensus we should be seeking.

Who is going to hold Pakistan accountable? Are you suggesting India go to war against Pakistan over this incident?

By: The Glittering Eye » Blog Archive » What To Do, What To Do?

The Glittering Eye » Blog Archive » What To Do, What To Do? — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:57:37 +0000

[...] Outside the Beltway this morning I’ve published a pair of posts on international relations. The first is a response to Robert Kagan’s column urging the international community to respond to the [...]

By: Jules Crittenden » The Obama Doctrine

Jules Crittenden » The Obama Doctrine — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:52:53 +0000

[...] Outside the Beltway: Because that’s worked so well! How about Bushizing the international response. [...]

By: Bithead

Bithead — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:43:01 +0000

Well, two things.
The UN has been worse than useless in the matter, as they usually are.

Secondly, that Kagen thinks a response is needed in Pakistan suggests by extnsion that a response was needed to the very same symptoms in Iraq and Afghanistan... how ever that was to be had.