Karachi USA
Patricia Lee Sharpe discusses the nuances of "rogue" intelligence operations in Pakistan. Basically, there’s a permanent military/intelligence ruling class in the country that’s going to do what it wants, and if the new progressive-minded civilian government tries to hard to purge the "rogue" elements, the new progressive-minded civilian government will be gone.
Meanwhile, Radley Balko spots Blackwater tees on the torsos of agents raiding a medical-marijuana facility in California. That puts me in mind of things the Stiftung Leo Strauss used to write about the depth and breadth of the off-the-books covert government the GOP true believers have fostered in the Bush era – before the Stiftung decided that the most pressing threat to America was Barack Obama’s . . . something. Point being, we’re incubating our own Inter-Services Intelligence agency, though, in the American fashion, it will be a nominally "private" enterprise.
Note, however, that to attempt to relate the above to today’s events would be shrill.
Comment by Nell —
August 2, 2008 @ 11:58 am
Basically, there’s a permanent military/intelligence ruling class in the country that’s going to do what it wants, and if the new progressive-minded civilian government tries to hard to purge the “rogue” elements, the new progressive-minded civilian government will be gone.
Gosh, aren’t you glad you don’t live in a country like that?
Comment by Nell —
August 2, 2008 @ 11:59 am
Lame snark, because I posted it before reading the rest of the post.
Comment by Thoreau —
August 2, 2008 @ 12:29 pm
As I’ve been showing in several posts, I go back and forth on the origin of the anthrax attacks. Sometimes I wonder if the anthrax attacks were the work of some rogue elements like you describe in this post. No, that isn’t a valid excuse for the people at the top, because they have a responsibility to control the apparatus.