When Pakistan signed onto the ‘war on terror’, was there some clause that said they couldn’t change their minds? And if there wasn’t and they do change minds … does that make them “not ours” anymore? I am sure this has nothing to do with the nuclear agreement between India and the USG nor US support for Israel … not rallying point s for Pakistani favor.  China and Pakistan seem to be doing better and better and the USG may well have to resort to violence extreme diplomacy but they (Pakistan) have teeth … and that means the USG will pay someone else to take care of it for them, just like they would for any third world country. Afghanistan and Iraq weren’t signatories but their sovereignty was just set aside … for our sovereignty … in their countries (9/11 my arse).

It's not about changing its mind. The government of Pakistan was put in a damned if you do damned if you don't situation. What the government may think is best is usually not what the people in that country think is best. 

Pakistan is not just any old third world nation.....They have nukes.

Smoothseas, guess I have to be more careful huh. I was just responding to the article and what was stated in it. My intent was to slam the USG for their actions in third world countries. I stated they have teeth and that is why the ‘third world’ approach must be taken. We will stir the caldron and incite internal strife (etc.) till our chosen ‘group’ is victorious … if at all, they will be taken down internally , IMO.

This is not the situation in Pakistan. There are good reasons not to let the caldron boil over in this case. Think about this one seriously.  Would you rather have a dictatorship that is "friendly" with the US or a democratically elected "religiously conservative" government looking after the arsenal in Pakistan?

Smoothseas: I have given up trying to find good reason in much of what the USG does and says ... or not. At best the USG is a self-sustaining and self-supporting entity with a life of its own. We the people hold all the votes ... but those people hold all the power ... we lose every time ... most of us just don't know it (won't accept it). However it works out in Pakistan ... I would put my money on the USG to be hip deep in the covert actions. I think their only hope of survival is to jump on the China bandwagon and wean the USG out. Let’s try to remember that we agree on much more than we disagree on … it is easy to get carried away with all the nonsense that comes out of nowhere.

I would also guess that some in the Pakistani govt may have known in advance more about some of our actions within their borders than they publicly admit. We are dealing with a government whose views on the actions we are taking are very different from the views of the people they govern. You have to keep in mind that what governments say to their people and what they say behind closed doors to foreign diplomats are often two very different things.