What is this Outrage week? A TRUCE between Pakistan/Taliban?

[beachmom]

Sorry guys I'm posting so much, but there are so many outrages this week, it's hard to keep up with them all. Just read this on TPM:

Asia Times: "With a truce between the Pakistani Taliban and Islamabad now in place, the Pakistani government is in effect reverting to its pre-September 11, 2001, position in which it closed its eyes to militant groups allied with al-Qaeda and clearly sided with the Taliban in Afghanistan. While the truce has generated much attention, a more significant development is an underhand deal between pro-al-Qaeda elements and Pakistan in which key al-Qaeda figures will either not be arrested or those already in custody will be set free."

Fighting them in Iraq because we're afraid to fight them in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/009670.php


I'm at a loss for words.

[sandnsea]

1. Hey hon, it ain't on the teevee

It hasn't happened yet. This story originally came out Sunday or Monday, and still nothing on the teevee. No we've got the gitmo line-up and non-stop Bush terrorama, but nothing on this truly shocking development in Pakistan. Not to mention the very serious chaos in Afghanistan. I wonder if people will ever really rise up and demand this country set things right.

[ginnyinWI]

7. it has been on TV

It was on ABC's World News either Mon. or Tues--I forget which. I think Monday though.

[sandnsea]

8. Well that's something

And ABC no less, quite ironical. Maybe the people making the 9/11 movie would want to add this little tidbit to the end, ya think?

[ginnyinWI]

9. for sure.

I'm kind of perplexed by all the anti-ABC rhetoric around DU, because I am getting more and more happy with their news dept lately. Charlie Gibson is much better than Katie Couric, and Martha Raddatz is on about every night, and seems to know her stuff.

I know enough about it to know that a news dept. is not necessarily the same as the dept. that puts on prime-time entertainment. So these people who are saying "I'm never, ever watching ABC again!!!!" are soon going to have no networks to watch at all. Just like candidates/politicians, no media outlet is going to be perfect. You take them all with a grain of salt.
Today's example is Hardball: most of the time it's dismal dreck, but then you turn it on and see John Kerry looking tanned, rested and, with that twinkle in his eye, obviously enjoying every minute of the current battles going on in the Senate! :)

edit: I should add that the reason I started watching more ABC is that I noticed Rachael Maddow quoting from it a lot. So I gave it a closer look.

[sandnsea]

11. I'm furious about the "docu-drama"

Beside the point of what the news dept is doing, this docu-drama is outrageous. I completely understand the outrage. I don't watch network news and haven't watched it in years and years, I'm more likely to turn on a morning show. By the end of the day, I can't take any more of what passes for news. It's funny because I can tolerate most of the day with MSNBC, but Tucker went off on David Brock today and I turned it off and missed JK - wouldn't you know! They were running clips earlier in the day of him taking Rummy to task over the lack of an Iraq plan, so that was pleasant to see. We have such dweebs representing us on cable news generally, it gets infuriating. But I figure the best way to handle these bad stories is like we've handled the docu-drama, one coordinated effort that jams switchboards. I just hope the beltway dems finally understand what is happening and that it happens to everybody and that the party has to be united every time it happens. I wish the Clinton people had been this supportive with the swift boaters.

[ProSense]

2. More here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2808138&mesg_id=2808138

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=2813067

To quote Senator Kerry:

And over there, Afghanistan is slipping back into chaos, Pakistan is one coup away from becoming a radical Islamic state with nuclear weapons, Iran is closer to a nuclear arsenal, and Iraq has become a recruitment poster for terror.

[beachmom]

3. Thank you for those posts, Prosense

I'm sorry I missed them the first time around. I read the newspaper, and I don't recall reading this. Sometimes the headlines mislead, but I swear I didn't see this. This is unbelievably huge. This means Pakistan is no longer helping us, and Bush's talk of finding OBL is just bogus. If he really wanted to find OBL, Condi Rice would be in Islamabad doing important diplomatic work, trying to rectify a completely frayed "alliance". So it looks like the bogeyman is safe for the time being, so that he can try to help the GOP keep Congress. Only an idiot wouldn't want the rubber stamp GOP Congress to remain in his enemy's country.

[karynnj]

5. This has to make Senator Kerry furious

He has brought this up every time La Rice dained to appear before their committee. I don't understand why no one in the media has really broken ranks and told the truth about the games they played in 2004 - they have to see that Bush has done.

[karynnj]

6. He seems to be one of the few unafraid to speak the truth

[_dynamicdems]

4. All we can hope is that t his hurts Bsh who started ranting about a new

effort to go after Bin Laden. Now he has to deal with Pakistan first. Let's see him dig himself further.

His chest-beating of late may backfire big time in November because of news like this. We can only hope that America wakes up and pays attention before it is too late.

[TayTay]

10. The Bush government does not take OBL seriously

They never have. This move by Pakistan is the logical followup to the CIa disbanding their unit that was actually hunting for the guy in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Sen. Kerry wrote a letter back in July to John Negroponte, Terrorism Tsar, that demanded that the hunt for bin Laden resume. No response.

The Democratic Daily had the story on this at: http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=3533

If the US only cares about whether or not we find bin Laden when there is an election around the corner, then it is logical to assume that Pakistan thinks there will be no consequences of notes for going ahead and signing a peace treaty with Al Qaeda.

This is a natural outgrowth of the Bush agenda. We only really pretend to care about bin Laden to scare voters. News flash, it's not working. Bush's poll ratings, according to CBS News tonight, went down this week after Americans heard him speaking. He is now at 35% disapproval and 65% of Americans disapprove of his handling of Iraq. The commentator said that most Americans have actually given up on Bush and no longer listen to what he has to say. Bush could promise to go naked down Broadway while juggling power saws and riding a unicycle and most Americans would pay no attention. This guy has no credibility left with the American people. None. The propaganda is not working.

[ginnyinWI]

12. This emphasis on terror could well backfire on them.

It just begs the question ,and plenty of Dems are asking it: Where is Osama, anyway? It's been a half a decade, for cryin'out loud. The 9/11 babies are starting Kindergarten this year!