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Scare the bear (and the dragon?)

By Owen Paine on Wednesday December 13, 2006 02:01 PM

Boot bulking is the plan under discussion on today's docket -- and maybe after Xmas, we'll hear the callup horn:
Army, Marine Corps To Ask for More Troops
By Ann Scott Tyson

The Army and Marine Corps are planning to ask incoming Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Congress to approve permanent increases in personnel, as senior officials in both services assert that the nation's global military strategy has outstripped their resources.

In addition, the Army will press hard for "full access" to the 346,000-strong Army National Guard and the 196,000-strong Army Reserves by asking Gates to take the politically sensitive step of easing the Pentagon restrictions on the frequency and duration of involuntary call-ups for reservists....

We've seen this coming, haven't we? But here's something new:
If another crisis were to erupt requiring a large number of U.S. ground troops... -- as in some scenarios such as the disintegration of Pakistan -- Army and Marine Corps officials made clear that they would have to scramble to provide them....
Now that's a real teaser: Pakistan "disintegrating"? Would the Hindu bullock butt in, as it did when Bangladesh self-liberated? And if so... mayhaps... enter the dragon? What a fruit salad that would make.

So I ask the source, my mole embedded deep in the Ivy ranks of the US Foreign Service, who testily replies, "Jayso, you imbecile, that's fantasy island stuff -- the Pak military is as solid as Turkey's. Don't bug me with these stupid questions." Click!

Maybe. But then why mention it? There's plenty of phantom hot spots where a mere mention would make the other side a lot less uneasy.

So I call my Bengali friend, Ja Ja Bose, and he sez, "Well, here in Bengal, we see this as real. You, Paine, and your buddies there inside the beast may just see this as idle fatuous body building by the brass hats, but maybe not, comrade. Maybe talk of Pakistan in conjunction with a boost in main force capablity is not puff up -- maybe it's precisely what you say and do if you want to threaten the Russo-Chinese axis now, and not in ten years.

"What if today you wish to rattle the sabre? What if the near term prospect of another potential Yankee blitzkreg force deployed in the area is meant to get the other guys to rattle back?

Imagine a conventional ground force ready to sweep over Iran, and roll straight up through central Asia by way of the Caspian slot.

Sure some of the terrain is a trifle nasty. It wouldn't be like Hitler into the Ukraine. But maybe that's not the problem it was for Queen Vickie's Raj, when it faced the bear across the mountaintops. Maybe they end-run 'em thru Iran, or at least pretend to...."

Hmmm, the Great Game gets... greater. But hey, what does he know? He's still a Maoist insurgency fan.

Comments (3)

sk:

Neocon necromancers have been predicting total collapse of Pakistan for quite sometime now...

js paine:

sk

that link a real beauty

pure hindu blood wish
meets
zionic mischief

ja ja bose:

"never an end to paki dismemberment fantasy
here in the worlds biggest democracy "

and i'll add
never an end
to zionic war drums
designed for uncle's ears

js paine:

speak of the dragon

ole gentle ben had a nice wall street
pimp turn over there didn't he

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/8ed90514-8c01-11db-9684-0000779e2340.html

then again paulson can not be topped
for egregious job bartering
jobs lost here
for
jobs gained there

ie
a chance
to open
a full spectrum credit shop
inside the worlds
greatest
private profit opportunity
is worth
the liquidation
of a few million more
manufacturing jobs here

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