A great article Graham.

Amazing how people can turn what might have been a prosperous and peaceful region into hell.

A hell that even the government of Pakistan has given up on with the withdrawal of its army.

Cheers

Pete

If the U.S. has been anywhere near the Swat Valley, then there is no hope of prosperity or peace.

The U.S. only ever leaves devastation, corpses, lingering deaths from chemicals and radio-activity, political chaos, hatred, and violence.

Never has a nation promised so much and delivered so little. Never has one nation been hated so much by the bulk of the world's people.

The U.S. will lead the world into a nuclear holocaust. It just can't help itself!

It loves killing and its supporters are sickos who reject entirely the notion of peace!

We are on a one-way street to hell!

David G

Your blaming of the poor, yet cuddly, US has somewhat of a familiar ring.

Other peoples are quite capable of creating their own hell.

How does your "US the cause of all evil" thesis explain the hell of the Dark and Middle Ages and depredations of the Romans before that?

And I'll have you know that as a teenager two of my most memorable girlfriends were yanks, who were advanced in ways that counted. Though sadly not ménage à trois.

Don't knock it till you tried it, I say.

Where would our iLives be without Hollywood, jazz and Oprah?

I suspect you are really a septic lover!

Cheers

Pete

David G, you have hit the nail on the head. If the stupid Yanks and their acolytes had stayed out of Afghanistan, the Taliban would have stayed out of Pakistan. Unfortunately, the current administration seems to think that killing more people with drones is the answer. Things may improve a bit when the troops all go home and the Taliban move back into Afghanistan, but it will be a long time, if ever, before things return to some sort of normalcy.

David

VK3UU, thank heavens there are a few people on OLO who have the brainpower and vision to see the Yanks for what they are: Brutal Plunderers and Greed-driven Philistines!

The marvel is that they've conned much of the world that they are saintly guardians of human rights and freedoms while, at the same time, they rampage around the world killing and destroying! It's the greatest con-job the world has ever seen!

It's time the U.S. was treated as what it is: a rogue nation that is trying to control the whole world.

<< If the stupid Yanks and their acolytes had stayed out of Afghanistan, the Taliban would have stayed out of Pakistan>>

And if us Westerners would all just hold hands and sing "Kumbaya, my Lord" those nasty jihadis would not want to further their faith--no siree!

While I agree the US should have kept out of Afghanistan--AND KEEP OUT OF SYRIA!

Anyone who thinks things would all have been hunkydory if the US had stayed out, either has to be a totally ignorant of Islamic history, or is motivated by a twisted desire to scapegoat the West , or combining BOTH, an Ozzie lefty/Green.

SPQR. You might be interested to know that I am neither a lefty or a green. If you study the history of the Middle East, you might find that if the great US of A had adopted a more conciliatory approach to the rights of the natives of Palestine, those unfortunates and their jihadist friends might not have bloodied the noses of the Yanks and caused them to run around in circles chasing Bin Laden in the wrong country.

David

David,

<<If you study the history of the Middle East...>>
And, if you had studied the history of the ME --as you seem to imply--you would have found that taking a conciliatory has not helped the minorities within/under Dar'al Islam one iota.

<<caused [the Yanks] them to run around in circles chasing Bin Laden in the wrong country>>
What billions of dollars worth of aid to Pakistan (how much more conciliatory can one get!) could not induce its Govt/military to hand over an individual whose only commonality with them was religion -surely a warning light to us all!

<<I am neither a lefty or a green>>
Perhaps you are a latent Green --having not yet discovered you true calling!