Middle East Democracy Sucks

At least, everyplace that isn't subject to American occupation:

Pakistani officials are making it increasingly clear that they have no interest in stopping cross-border attacks by militants into Afghanistan, prompting a new level of frustration from Americans who see the infiltration as a crucial strategic priority in the war in Afghanistan.

On Wednesday night, the United States fired its fourth Predator missile strike since January, the most visible symbol of the American push for a freer hand to pursue militants from Al Qaeda and the Taliban who use Pakistan’s tribal areas as a base to attack Afghanistan and plot terrorist attacks abroad. In Afghanistan, cross-border attacks have doubled over the same month last year and present an increasingly lethal challenge to American and NATO efforts to wind down the war and deny the Taliban and Al Qaeda a sanctuary. …

“Pakistan will take care of its own problems, you take care of Afghanistan on your side,” said Owari Ghani, the governor of North-West Frontier Province, who is also President Pervez Musharraf’s representative in charge of the neighboring tribal areas.

Mr. Ghani, a key architect of the pending peace accord, believes along with many other Pakistani leaders that the United States is floundering in the war in Afghanistan. Pakistan, he said, should not be saddled with America’s mistakes, especially if a solution involved breaching Pakistan’s sovereignty, a delicate matter in a nation where sentiment against the Bush Administration runs high.

“Pakistan is a sovereign state,” he said. “NATO is in Afghanistan; it’s time they did some soldiering.”

It's time WE "do some soldiering"???  The Paks allow al Qaeda and the Taliban to use THEIR territory as a sanctuary to attack Afghanistan and then speak of OUR "mistakes" and dare to suggest that WE'RE "floundering" - and then tell us to respect THEIR sovereignty?

I thought we had learned the lesson of Vietnam: never allow your enemies a refuge from attack.  We're doing so in both theaters: Iran and Syria are allowed to launch assymmetrical attacks into Iraq with impunity, and now after wavering and waffling for several years, "democratic" Pakistan has thrown in with the terrorists and against Afghanistan - as well as NATO (aka the United States).

Suddenly BO's "Operation Pakistani Freedom" doesn't look quite as bad.  It's almost a pity it was such an obvious bluff.