Strangely, I find myself in agreement with you. (sheesh, that hasn't happened since the eraam days) :)

Anyway, one of my biggest concerns has been that Pakistan has taken the possition of saying 'nice doggy. . .nnniiiiiiiccce doggy' while they reach for a VERY large stick. (which they hand over to the known bad-guys on the block.)

BOOM BOOM BOOM
. . . the Pakistanies pull an Eddie Haskle and say 'golly-geee. . .sorry to see what happened to your dog there. . .'

Someone please tell me this senario is baseless.

I also wish it was unlikely but it seems like the most likely way that the US opposition can successfully fight back against our empire. It also allows for a lot of culpable denyability.

See, its easy for us to agree when we boil things down to their basic realities. ;)

Not worried about Pakistan as long as they have India's weapons pointed at them.

350 - you may be right, but I'd divorce the Pak nukes from the Pak government. I doubt that Pakistan (as in the country) is the danger, but certain Paks might be. As long as we can keep what there is of a Pak government on "our" side, we have half a chance at corralling the nukes.

I will disagree on the "empire" characterization, though. Too facile a characterization for you; Purry maybe, but I expect better from you. :p

JP