More useless speculation about the Middle East

Watching TV all day. Monday, so the "news cycle" resumes after a weekend full of ghost stories and "I Survived."

Pakistan is apparently quite teed off that the US charged over its borders to attack bn Ladn. The next time we do that, Pakistan says, they will respond with "full force" or whatever. They do have nuclear weapons.

Want to know what I think? Well, probably not, but it seems to me that Pakistan knew all about bn Ladn living amongst them. His compound was, after all, in what is a virtual military stronghold in Pakistan, and the compound was of such a size -- and secrecy -- that no one could fail to notice it and ask questions. Add to this the larger context of Pakistan's being a police state, and it's very hard to figure that the Pakistani government just didn't know bn Ladn was there.

Personally, I believe bn Ladn was there, surrounded by Pakistan military, so that they could keep close tabs on him. He was, after all, a proven threat to human civilization.

For the record, Pakistan also harbors the most violent elements of the Taliban and a bunch of other nasty terrorist-type freaks -- along with those sort of 10th Century tribes who've always demanded tribute of those trying to use the Khyber Pass. Providing shelter for murderous loonies seems to be Pakistan's specialty, the way they differentiate themselves in the marketplace. From the brochure: "Are you a violent, high-profile wannabe dictator looking for safe harbor? Come to beautiful Pakistan!"

Kadaffy -- here's the place for you!

At any rate, I suspect Pakistan was sheltering bn Ladn the way a poker player hoards his chips. Perhaps the Pakistanis believed bn Ladn might have some value in international politics. Like, the next time they offended America to the point that the US decided to cut off all aid, the Pakis could pull bn Ladn out of their pork-pie hats -- "Hey! If you stay friends, we could give you bn Ladn!"

So the Seals took that away, and boy is Pakistan pissed.

And by the way, the latest conspiracy theory claims that the CIA and upper echelons of the US government also knew the Pakis were harboring bn Ladn, and just decided that it was his time to go. Perhaps bn Ladn was about to spill the beans about his collusion with the Bush administration when Bush and Cheney blew up the World Trade Center. See how nicely that all dovetails?

Anyways, the Comrade actually did a enjoy a slight "bump" in popularity over the annihilation of bn Ladn, but it doesn't seem to be holding. And it also occurred too far in advance of the 2012 elections to have much impact probably. That's the silver lining.

Save the Republic.