Quote :

"Pakistan: U.S. threatened to bomb us back to Stone Age WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan says the United States threatened to bomb his country back to the Stone Age after the 9/11 attacks if he did not help America's war on terror. Musharraf says the threat was delivered by Richard Armitage, then the deputy secretary of state, to Musharraf's intelligence director, the Pakistani leader told CBS-TV's "60 Minutes." "The intelligence director told me that (Armitage) said, 'Be prepared to be bombed. Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age,' " Musharraf said in the interview to be shown Sunday on the CBS television network. It was insulting, Musharraf said. "I think it was a very rude remark," he told reporter Steve Kroft. But, Musharraf said he reacted responsibly. "One has to think and take actions in the interests of the nation and that is what I did," he said. The White House and State Department declined to comment on the conversation. Armitage told CNN on Thursday that he never threatened to bomb Pakistan, wouldn't say such a thing and didn't have the authority to do it. Armitage said he did have a tough message for Pakistan, saying the Muslim nation was either "with us or against us," according to CNN. Armitage said he didn't know how his message was recounted so differently to Musharraf. In a speech in January 2002, four months after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Musharraf gave a speech in which he clearly came down on the side of reform at home and opposition to Islamic fundamentalism. Pakistan to this day is considered an ally of the United States in the struggle with militant groups. Sometimes, however, Pakistan appears reluctant to go after the Taliban, which controlled neighboring Afghanistan until 2001 and has intensified its insurgency in the southern part of the country in recent months. Musharraf is scheduled to meet on Friday at the White House with President Bush and then see Bush again next week in a three-way meeting with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan. Musharraf told "60 Minutes" that Armitage's message was delivered with demands that he turn over Pakistan's border posts and bases for the U.S. military to use in the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Some demands were "ludicrous," such as a demand he suppress domestic expression of support for terrorism against the United States. "If somebody is expressing views, we cannot curb the expression of views," Musharraf said."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/21/pakistan.threat.ap/index.html

GG Musharraf for not cracking down on expression.

9/22/2006 12:28:45 AM

I like how Musharraf is suddenly growing a backbone.

What a fucking douche.

9/22/2006 8:27:13 AM

Hey, I know. Let's bomb them back to the Stone Age and create a power vacuum sure to be filled by America-loving capitalists...

9/22/2006 9:47:48 AM

hahaha thats hilarious

and whats a coaltion?

9/22/2006 9:51:49 AM

so we'd bomb them back by about 15 years then

9/22/2006 9:58:26 AM

^lol

9/22/2006 10:01:58 AM

see, this is why our foreign policy is sloppy.

India could've bulldozed this rogue state with conventional warfare were it not for US support. but now its too late, everybody's got nukes.

how long do you think Facistan will remain an "ally"?


if we're to win the war on terror, there needs to be a renewed focus on finishing the job in Bactria. i've heard tales of WWII when axis units were dug deep in the mountains of Italy and the Alps, and the British brought in the Gurkhas to root them out. maybe that's what needs to happen here.

9/22/2006 10:12:14 AM

What's the plan for what'd happen next?

9/22/2006 10:13:03 AM

i don't know, but OBL needs to be taken care of

9/22/2006 10:18:15 AM

So was that a bluff, or would the administration have had a press conference claiming that Pakistan was sheltering taliban and al qaeda refugees from Afghanistan and then bombed them?

9/22/2006 11:25:22 AM

I'd say it could be interpreted either way, actually. From a diplomatic standpoint it makes sense to project power when a critical ally seems to be tipping his allegiances. If he demonstrates an un-nuanced allegiance to Al Qaeda, I'd wager we would have such a press conference, followed by at least more seemingly idle threats. Once we had resources to mount an attack, it wouldn't be a joke anymore.

9/22/2006 11:47:24 AM

Quote :

"Armitage told CNN on Thursday that he never threatened to bomb Pakistan,"

Just like he never leaked Plame's name, I suppose.

9/22/2006 11:49:02 AM

^ Exactly. It's inredible when you try and actually pick through the bullshit and figure out who's lying to you and who isn't. Once you get that they're all capable of it, and will not flinch to do it, you're left playing some Where's Waldo? game with "the truth."

9/22/2006 12:04:59 PM

^Amen

9/22/2006 12:31:50 PM

gg, 30thAnnZ

9/22/2006 12:44:30 PM

Quote :

"Hey, I know. Let's bomb them back to the Stone Age and create a power vacuum sure to be filled by America-loving capitalists..."

Quote :

"so we'd bomb them back by about 15 years then"

I was going to say...
.
"I'm game, let me go get my Snap n Pops"

Oh well.

9/22/2006 12:48:00 PM