In January, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a television interview that Afridi and his team had been key in finding bin Laden, describing him as helpful and insisting the doctor had not committed treason or harmed Pakistan.

Geeze, just confirming this seems like a death sentence over there.

Please, Please cut all US welfare funding to Pakistan. They harbor terrorists and are a breeding ground for infidel Jihad scum........

Time for a cluster of drone attacks on the Pakistani government buildings, at a time when everyone will be there. These people are no more our allies than the Taliban.

The guy isn't going to do a day in prison. This is a show for the hard line Pakistanis. He'll be living in Aruba next week.

How is it that given the high level of planning that went into this operation - especially since anyone who wasn't born yesterday knows full well that that Pakistan is more enemy than friend and we had to work in spite of them rather than with their help - how is it, that whomever was in charge of this didn't make sure - prior to the operation that this man and his family quietly found their way out of Pakistan?

One of the important determining factors in getting people to help you gather intelligence is that they know that you are looking out for them and actually do care about them. If in the future I were in the position of this doctor and was asked to give aid to the U. S. to help them get our hands on a killer like bin Laden, I would say - "You've got to be kidding! Look what you let happen to the last guy who was stupid enough to help you."

We are the most wonderful, freest country on earth - which is why the best and brightest always make a beeline to America from hell holes like Pakistan; yet sometimes I just shake my head in amazement that we can be so smart and yet so stupid and thoughtless.

This man will spend the rest of his life paying for helping us. Why? Because the man who green lighted this operation, Mr. Obama - didn't do his due diligence and make sure that all aspects of it were tightly sewn up so that no loose ends were left. Leaving the one who help make an operation a success behind to suffer while you claim a great victor in the war against terror makes a total joke of the entire affair.

There is a reason the Marines and other branches of our military have as their credo "No man left behind." They know that if you are going to put your life on the line no one can guarantee your safety, but by God you have to know those you are going into battle with truly do have your back and are wiling to make the same ultimate sacrifices for you that you are prepared to make for them and your team.

A real lead - which no one would mistake Obama for - would never have let things go forward until something of this nature had been sorted out and attended to; someone who was more interested in grandstanding and taking credit for political reasons would.

May God have mercy on his soul and help him, because certainly Pakistan will not and we didn't.

As seven2seven says...shut off the money faucet. Remember they THREATENED us if we did NOT give them "aid"! I believe it's call extortion. The country agreed to "help"....nothing. One guy looks with USA aid...bingo.

He shouldn't have any trouble posting bail with his share of the $27M reward, right?

we announce who helped us find and kill bin-laden; our ally ? , puts him in jail for 30 years, why the hell did we not keep our mouth shut, why did we not get him out right away, we have to kiss the Pakistan government ass, so we can continue to supply our troops and over 100 thousand American civilian workers in Afghanistan; WE HAVE LOST OUR MINDS !

I realize this is a delicate situation, but at some point we have got to get tough. To me this is the last straw -- essentially they are putting stick in our eye. We need to recognize the obvious -- Pakistan is not our friend and we should take appropriate actions. I am sure there will be reports in the future about how our aid money is being used against us. Let's wake up.

@SHOP-2333427 I could not agree with you more. It is very clear at this moment that Pakistan is not our ally. If I were in Congress I would sponsor a resolution to sanction Pakistan over the jailing, suspend all US aid and begin a process of looking at whether or not the government should be on a list of states sponsoring terrorism. Allowing terrorists the freedom to operate is exactly what Afghanistan did prior to September 2011 and will do again after we leave. We should give them nothing.

Pakistan is just mad they can't cash both Bin Laden's and the USA's aid checks. No more double dipping. :-(

Saxon. When people are more interested in making political hay while the media sun shines on what they have done - irrespective of who suffers - then you get what has happened here.

After all, keep in mind, we have a President who was given the Nobel Peace Prize - not because he actually had ever in his life accomplished anything worthy of being given it, but more because he wasn't President Bush and the Nobel Peace Prize committee was so thrilled he had won the election and wanted to let him know.

So much for the validity of a Nobel prize as well as the intellectual integrity and moral propriety of the prize committee.

This man should have been extracted before the operation took place. If we were able to fly into Pakistan undetected; do what needed to be done re bin Laden and get our people out for the most part unscathed, you cannot tell me we couldn't have, prior to the main event, gotten the doctor out to safety.

True leaders, the truly great ones care as much about the least player in the scenarios they orchestrate as the most "important" ones; true leaders hurt when they loose even one man regardless of whether anyone else cares about them or knew them or will remember them; true leaders don't leave obvious holes in a strategy practically designed to condemn one of the most important players to languish for the rest of their life in a filthy, hell hole of a prison where he will be abused, possibly tortured and die a premature (merciful probably) death.

SHAME on us and the people behind this operation.

Another botched decision by an administration that leaks "EVERYTHING. First FBI leaks, then CIA leaks, and now Panetta running his mouth - AGAIN! When will this stupidity stop? It's know wonder that it's tantamount to suicide to trust the USA, since we are well known for abandoning allies and friends. Just ask the Vietnamese AND the Camdodians AND the Somalis AND the El Salvadorans AND the Rwandans AND the Kurds AND the Hmong AND the Sudanese, AND, well, how many times do you have to see the movie before you get the plot? The Plot is - DON'T HELP AMERICANS unless they pay you billions, and then you STILL don't help them because they're so friggin stupid they keep paying anyway. Pakistan and most Middle Eastern Countries only know STRENGTH and POWER, and they do not fear anyone that demonstrates a lack of resolve to punish them to the point of oblivion. Who is our messenger in this regard - Hillary! Time to cut off the $$$, cut off the military aid, cut off the dialogue, and quit playing paddy-cake. Enough said.

Pakistan insisted to the US over and over that they were not harboring Bin Laden and were doing all they could to help us locate him, then they sentence the Dr who helped us get him to 33 years for "high treason"?!

I guess actions speak much louder than words, and their harsh sentence shows that they were about harboring and protecting him all along. Pakistan should no longer be considered a friend of the US and they shouldn't get a dime of aid for anything. We need to have countries decide that they are either for us or against us, and those who ally against us get nothing. We seem to make it very easy for countries to play both sides of the fence... They say the right things to us to keep the money flowing, while stabbing us in the back at the same time. This needs to stop.

Yeah, time to cut ties with Pakistan... right after we stop needing their airspace to support our troops in Afghanistan.

"This man will spend the rest of his life paying for helping us. Why? Because the man who green lighted this operation, Mr. Obama - didn't do his due diligence and make sure that all aspects of it were tightly sewn up so that no loose ends were left. Leaving the one who help make an operation a success behind to suffer while you claim a great victor in the war against terror makes a total joke of the entire affair."

What makes you think this man wanted to leave? He may have thought nothing would happen and didn't want to leave HIS country. My guess is you are just looking for something to blame Obama for and don't give a rats AZZ about this guy.

Sounds like a plan - with the 82nd Airborne Division as a back-up plan,

Still some don't get it!

Look at Osama case and this one.

Since 2001, Pakis have been double dealing, double talking and doing multiple dramas!

They have been backstabbing NATO forces right from 2001 while acting as an ally. Pakis are responsible for half of NATO forces deaths.

Even after 11 years, Afghan situation has only worsened. Now the plans are how to run!

"we announce who helped us find and kill bin-laden; our ally ?"

Where did anyone say we announced his name? Pakistan has their own intelligence community (and I hear they are pretty darn good)

So if the Pakistani government considers it to be treason to have helped get bin Laden does that mean that they are admitting the were willfully hiding him and considered keeping him hidden and alive in their national interests?!?! By convicting this man of treason the Pakistanis are finally admitting what anyone with a brain has known for a long time, the Pakistani government supports these terrorists and their actions. Too bad the idiots in the Obama administration have not woken up to this and cut off all aid to Pakistan. It is time to start treating Pakistan like the enemy they are instead of continuing with this ridiculous pretense that they are an ally in the war on terror. In addition, the Pakistanis should be given a choice between releasing this guy or being added to the list of state sponsors of terrorism with all of the financial and economic sanctions that go along with that designation.

Charged him with treason ... and they call themselves "allies." Puck you, Fakistan!

Time to get out of that region completely. Leave Afghanistan, then leave Pakistan (the only reason to be there now is so we can use their airspace).

This was a bad miscalculation by the US...we should have gotten this person out at the same time we did the raid. As it stands now, potential informants now know the price they will pay if they truly try to help the US root out known terrorists.

Not that I am in any way sticking up for Pakistan, because they are obviously not our ally, but the treason charge is probably because their citizen worked with an outside country without their permission, not so much because of who he gave up. It is all probably just for show so the terrorists don't start bombing them more. The guy was obviously a humanitarian for his people, so he probably had no interest in leaving his country. Blaming this on the President is ridiculous. It is like blaming the president for the soldiers who pi$$ed on dead bodies in Afghanistan.

Also, agree with Ron - time to get the heck out of that region, just keep small special forces teams there working. Those areas are not suited for full on military occupation to begin with, it does nothing but make more of the citizens over there mad at the US and want to join the terrorists.

*********************************The CIA deserves to be neutered and caged !!!!!!!!!*********************************

This is why our country CANNOT be trusted !!!!!! The CIA was running a undercover DNA operation . ****************

If someone in our country did that here and was working for a foreign government, that would be TREASON *******

The CIA deserves a medal - for doing whatever it takes to go after an enemy - bravo!

This conviction is nothing more than CONFESSING to the World Pakistan's Government involvement in hiding Bin Laden. Thank you Pakistan for ending all doubts.

They're NOT our ally. They've just officially demonstrated that helping us is considered treason.

And this administration will continue to send our tax dollars to Pakistan, telling us they are making progress in their talks with these rabid dogs!

With allies like Pakis, who needs enemies?

I can see where Pakistan would consider the doctor's involvement treason. After all, because of this doctor, the U.S. took out Pakistan's actual defense minister. This is Pakistan's message to any other person that would turn in Ayman al Zawahiri. They certainly don't want to lose anymore of their military leaderships.

The next shipment of aid should include lots of food laced with cyanide or ricine that way the dirt bags that take all of the food back to terrorist and goverment officials pretty much get what they deserve.

Yeah, time to cut ties with Pakistan... right after we stop needing their airspace to support our troops in Afghanistan.

And when will that be?

Where did anyone say we announced his name? Pakistan has their own intelligence community (and I hear they are pretty darn good)

YEAH they're good - at hiding bin Laden! Why the HELL didn't we take this guy with us? Maybe you're right, maybe he didn't want to go, but JEEZ!!!

I agree with the poster who said we should send a seal team to extract this man. Then we should remove the vast majority of troops posted in Afghanistan, then we should warn all US and allied citizens that they need to leave. Then we should allow the special force type teams that are left, and drones that are left to take Pakistan back to the stone age. We should instruct our forces that are left to confiscate all art and tangible wealth in the name of America and get something back from this two faced country.

Of course this episode would not have happened if we hand not invaded an allied nation. Instead have used the information we had to encourage, publicly, Afghanistan's support in the capture of Bin Laden, so that we could have shipped him off to GITMO and well, given him the trial and public punishment he so richly earned.

There is no question that we should not send another dime to Pakistan. There is no question that those in charge of Pakistan should be charged criminally for their support of crimes and attacks against America, Britain, and any other country that suffered from Bin Laden.

After our military forces have flattened the Government and taken out their nuclear capability then we should give India the green light to do what they have been wanting to do to Pakistan for decades.....

What is not being discussed is the obvious...by convicting this man the Government of Pakistan has opened the door to legal proceedings against The United States and those principals who gave the green light and would probably win in the goofy world court in the Hague.

Should we really re-elect a person who should be indicted for wrongly invading an allied country without due authority of our Congress? Obama and those who support him and direct him should truly feel remorse for this man who put everything on the line for America, and most certainly many more.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta should be sued by the doctors family. To have your name given to the news immediately after the mission and before you even have a chance to leave Pakistan is absolutely mind-boggling. What's next... the secret receiver codes and frequencies of the new attack drones just because we want to show them off. Leon Panetta wanted to be the one to boast on how it was accomplished, well buddy your big mouth pretty much signed a death warrant to someone that actually risked his life for your mission, hope you're proud.

txmom32: How ignorant of history are you?

First of all, it wasn't Obama who ordered the invasion of Afghanistan--it was his predecessor, George W. Bush, and under the heavy provocation of 9/11. Obama was inheriting two wars.

Also, at the time, the ultra-Islamic Taliban government were not going to turn over bin Ladin under any circumstances. The initial war was indeed justified, and it wasn't until Bush got distracted with Iraq that the cause was lost. If the US had focused on Afghanistan, bin Ladin would probably have been captured or killed much earlier.

Txmom, your worldview continues to baffle me. In the same post you are advocating seal team extraction from a sovereign country and demonizing President Obama's efforts to hunt down and kill ObL because of their allied status. You somehow think that President Obama was the first to send troops to Afghanistan and that he did so without the support of Congress. Utterly baffling. I am curious whether, assuming you could collect actual facts about Middle East actions over the last decade, you could assemble a more reasonable picture and set of opinions. You can write well, so I don't think you are unintelligent. You seem to have a deeply embedded, factually incorrect view of how the world operates. From this and previous posts, it seems that your overwhelming hatred of the current president guides this view and you create your own reality to support that hatred. Some of your views seem reasonable, at least in this post, but they are based on absurd notions. Our frames of reference are so vastly different it is shocking to me that we live in the same world.

Pakistan is an enemy.

India knows it.

China knows it.

Russia knows it.

And while none of these countries has ever been 100% our friend, none of them, either, decided to hide the man responsible for 9/11. Nor have they prosecuted those who helped find him.

Just saying, put things in perspective in the world.

The sentence is normal. Just like US, their laws won't allow a citizen to contact foreign agents without government authorization.

Don't you'se listen when Obama speaks ???......It's Pokistan...not Pakistan....Isn't that the country he went to visit with his roommate in college when U.S. Citizens couldn't travel to Pokistan ??.....Must have gone on his Indonesian Passport.....The Pokistani Government maybe was the one paying for his high-priced education....what with all the "drinking heavily and doing drugs enthusiastically and hardly ever going to class the last 2 years of high school, (Dreams from my Father).....certainly didn't get him big fat scholarships to attend all those prestigious universities....

We definitely need to get this guy out, send in the SEALS. If this doesn't show you whose side these jerkoffs are on, I don't know what does. Even the libs can see this one.

It's not that simple, reading these you all think that he and his family would board a plane head for California live in a nice house turn on the TV sit back and enjoy cookies and coffee feet up like nothing happened. It's Islam it's the religion that keeps people where they are. and above all there are so many trible groups in that region you can't make any sence to any of it at anytime.

What is so unusual about a high school kids spending 3 months on vacation in Pakistan. I think you are confused, it was Saudi Arabia that paid for Obama to get into Harvard. I heard it was 25 million. Not only get in but also placed in a position of prominence. He certainly didn't get in on his grades. Harvard has some explaining to do.

Osama's favorite porn movie... Pack-N-Stan

We need their airspace? Umm..... I say screw them, and just take the airspace! What are they going to do about it. I would love to see what would happen if one of those fools took a shot at one of our aircraft. They may be crazy fools, but I can't believe they would be that stupid. But one can hope!
Cut off all aid and say F**k you, plain and simple. They have proven time and again they can't be trusted, and are more than happy to take money from both sides. Let the Taliban have the s**thole that Pakistan is. Once the Taliban takes over, all the good people will move out (those that the Taliban haven't killed, anyway) and the whole country will be nothing BUT terrorists. A simple "nuclear accident" will solve the problem for good! And the women and children left? Terrorist factories and Taliban in Training, the should have left when they had the chance. Chose not to leave? Sucks to be you, don't it?

Im rather interested if this poor doctor will still get the award money? I rather doubt it, thats probably one of the reasons they left him rot there and Panetta said ot was hom. After all cant complain to the media about being cheated out of the 27 mil or part of it, if you are locked up tight for the next 30 some years..

I cant really blame Pakistan for locking him up, after all we would have done the same thing, to anyone that assisted a foreign military on making a raid in the US.. They should have gotten him out at the time of the raid, with another team..

OK Dumbama and clowns. Here is your chance to help somebody that helped the USA!!! He is not a useless dissident from China, he has provided an important service. Get him out from that @!$%#-Country Pakistan.

Subliminal, wishful thinking. Getting this guy out of Pakistan won't win Obama any votes, but the chinese dissident might. As far as Team Obama is concerned, this poor doctor was just collateral damage.

I wonder when Obama the dimwit will wake up and admit that Pakistan is working against us 80% of the time? Based on this story alone it is clear they'll side with Al Qaeda before they'll side with us. First they were harboring Bin Laden, now they're harboring the Taliban. Does any of this add up in Obama's mind, or is he always willing to give his Muslim brothers the benefit of the doubt while putting U.S. troops and our informants at risk?

Pakistan is in the world map due to British and the US!

Just see: how ungrateful the backstabbers can be!

Even US, British and many European nations can't save Pakistan from bloody civil war.

Islamic Frankenstein monster is going to tear apart Pakistan, its creator.

Just nuke the future dangers to world peace: Paki nukes and Isalmic religious Nazi militant areas.

Actually, Ed-1118000 It is not I who doesn't give a rats ass about this guy - it is you.

There is the old saying "If the shoes fits wear it."

Obama is a media hungry, glory hound who will loose no opportunity to try to parlay to his advantage any conceivable event in any way he can to help make his deplorable record look "good" some how.

My guess - re yourself - since you are guessing about my motivations - is that you are part of the Obama "right or wrong" crowd and will till your dying day be lost in your lost world of delusional, ivory tower tainted thinking.

to: Derek and others,

The reason we give Pakistan funding, is to create stability. The US(and NATO) doesn't want the CCP (China) to monopolize a relationship with Pakistan. It appears irresponsible to have left this doctor in Pakistan, unless he didn't want to leave ? We always see Hamid Karzai in the news, but I'll bet most most folks aren't aware that his brother is/was the largest drug dealer in Pakistan. In December of 2011 Karzai blamed foreigners for corruption in Pakistan.

Only a complete fool would believe that the military officials in Pakistan were not aware of Bin Laden's presence in Pakistan. Bin Laden apparently paid/bribed the right people. Meanwhile Pakistan continued receiving funds from the US as our supposed "Ally". Quite a unique situation for Pakistan, harboring Bin Laden and receiving funds from the US, knowing we were searching for him, risky but it paid well, yes those foreigners sure did corrupt Pakistani officials.

I wonder who Karzai will go cry to next ?

You people simply don't understand. You have to trade with them. That's how Pakistan works.

Why are we giving them any aid when it has been clear (and this conviction proves it), that Pakistan was willingly harboring Bin Laden and we were working against them by taking him out. We had more reason to bomb the @$# out of Pakistan than we did Iraq. CUT ALL AID NOW!!! Tell 'em if they want any aid, they can do something about about Syria and then maybe we'll talk.

true- they should have made arrangements for him to come out afterwards.

In one action, in Afghanistan about six CIA operatives including one top one was blown up. Pakis were guilty here also!

The problem with this administration is that they just can't seem to keep their mouths shut with sensitive information..... It becomes a race to see how fast it can get blabbed/leaked/publicized - used for votes.

Add one more casualty to the raid.

Why does everything have to come out? Seems counterproductive to tell the enemy our methods. KSM was waterboarded 183 times. He actually looks better now than when he was captured. We disclosed the British double agent on the recent assassination. And in this case, wasn't it possible to keep things under wraps?

Just wondering when Panetta will be charged with 'outing' a CIA operative?!!

When Cheney is.

All due respect guys, has anyone considered that Afridi decided to stay on his own decission. These people are known to take family members a kill them if they don't get who there after. Only 3.5 years in prison with an option to buy your way out, for TREASON? That will get you life to death here. I say this is a world wide announcement that they were keeping Bin Ladin there and that they will lie to anybody about anything. This is a message to the world not to trust them for anything.

It wasnt the waterboarding that broke KSM. They threatened to use soap on him. ;)

Right on, wolves. Traitor and chicken hawk, but he wears a flag lapel pin so he must be alright.

The doctor chose to stay. I doubt that he will suffer much, or for very long in "prison". When the US State Department is looking over your shoulder as to how you treat someone who has helped us, and only cost you some "honor", you would be wise to settle for his negotiated early release.

Cut all funding and flip the tables.. "release him and we will send aid" then every time they do something stupid we simply cut funding just like when your kid does something bad he gets no Allowance for a month or whatever... they are not any different its called "teaching"

To anyone who ever helps the CIA be warned, they will leave to fend for yourself no matter what you do for them.

it's kinda ironic, because it was the CIA leaving islamic militants out hanging to fend for themselves after they trained/funded them during the Soviet Union's Afghanistan war that spurned some of the hatred they harbor for the USA. These remnant militants came to be known as "Al Qaeda" and their leader, "Osama bin Laden."

That being said, it's disgusting that Pakistan found this doctor guilty of "high treason." At least that answers which side Pakistan is truly on, so when can we stop pouring billions of $$'s into that cesspool?

This from poster zekemob:

The guy isn't going to do a day in prison. This is a show for the hard line Pakistanis. He'll be living in Aruba next week.

Agreed.

Pakistan has confirmed the charges of duplicity. But even worse, they are making an official endorsement of harboring terrorists. The doctor revealed the location of the world's most notorious terrorist and is charged with treason for doing so?

It comes as no surprise. Pakistan is the source of the Taliban and the Madrassas that train them in the finer details of Islamic Jihad.

Time to give Pakistan the Singapore style caning it deserves.

Hope people know the history of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

British invented them and the US maintained them on the map.

US and NATO forces are getting back with force from Pakis since 2001. Has the history seen more ungrateful people on earth?

Saudis are acting on similar lines but with more sophistication through their puppets.

They have been getting dirty jobs done as in Iraq and now Iran and Syria; manipulating higher oil prices in between; and supporting anti-US and West Sunni Islamic militant groups like al-Qaeda and Muslim Brotherhood!

We should gut all ties with israel as well. As they are just as bad and we could use the billions we send to them here at home.

Seems clear what side Pakistan is on. Why are we funding this terrorist country?

We need to stop all aid money to Pakistan and stop issuing Visas to the Pakis to come here. The Pakis here are a national security threat anyway and they should have their Visas revoked and be sent home. Stop all money and stop the Visas.

GTR5: Sooner the better.

Before Pakis flooded into the US, air travel was a breeze!

Now just see the checks from top to toe!

Ah crap, I did it again; hit the like button instead of the reply button! I hate it when I do that! Subtract one of your "likes."

How is this a "distortion"? "Scammed the system"? Huh? He was convicted of High Treason; i.e.: His aiding the CIA was considered treasonous.

I will be the first to agree the media has long lost objectivity in reporting, presenting and ommitting facts while including opinion and innuendo.

That being said, the headline seems to support the article. I admit I was curious to see if the aid to the CIA and his conviction were related but having read the article it seems to indicate that is exactly the cause and effect (as reported in this article...via innuendo).

If (and I emphasize IF) this is in fact the cause and effect relationship here, then this is certainly headline news and additional reason for concern of Pakistans .... uh, behaviour.

All this being said, what in the world was the CIA(?) doing releasing his participation to the public in the first place?!

Thank god we aren't in the hands of the republicans. This is all they need to start another war.

...yes, I'd be interested in hearing more about a 'blatant distortion' also - I do not see any charge against Shakil Afridi other than the following statement...

Dr Afridi was accused of having taken a half-dozen World Health Organization cooler boxes without authorization

those were used to perform the 'immunization drive' in which he captured bin Laden's DNA,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakil_Afridi#Details_of_the_activities_Dr_Afridi_is_accused_of

Marks,

It was Obama, a Democrat, that put tens of thousands of additional US troops in Afghanistan...

Don't get me wrong, I have never supported the 2nd Iraq war, or the continued occupation of Afghanistan (I did support the initial 6 months as a valid 9/11 retaliation). But, what I see now is the Democrats supporting the same losing strategies the Republicans started a decade ago. The only area I agree with Obama on is continuing the Iraq withdrawal timeline agreed to by Bush.

Marks.....Republicans would not have been on the idiot tube blaring this guys name all over the place. Dims are STUPID. TOO MANY EXAMPLES OF STUPID THINGS THEY FART OUT THeir Mouthes to list here.

If you want another war in the Middle East (or anywhere, for that matter), you'll have to wait until a Republican gets in office. Once in, the lies will start, the fear-mongering will begin, Republicans will be easily brainwashed - and it's off to MISSION ACCOMPLISHED we'll go.

@All of you Dems. Or we could just wait a couple of more years and all the terrorist will be here cause he Dems love to let illegals become US citizens.. You know like Obumer wanting to give amnesty to all these people..

tdub---he should have been safely out of the country before the raid. prosecuting him shows where pakistan stands in this conflict.

It is such a tangled mess; who knows if he thought his standing would keep him safe (M.D.).

As to just taking Pakistan out, you all do know they have nukes? Cutting off aid is proper; but I don't know what we can do otherwise. We should have stomped them good when they detached from India.

@ Shane

sorry to rain on your parade, but Republicans not (most)Democrats benefit from illegal immigrants. It's the elite rich who need illegal immigrants to drive down workers wages, so the rich can profit more by monopolizing control and power through immoral means. Rich Republicans would rather the immigrants remain "illegal" in order they may have more power to coerce and distort(and "illegals" can't get full benefits).

Even Ted Kennedy said (not until he was dying, but he said it none the less), that everyone deserves the same medical treatment as politicians. Snooty lying Republicans don't want "the common folks" receiving their elite free benefits.

President Obama didn't help create the "K-street" mess of Rummy, "Shotgun" Cheney, and Bush, but it looks as if he will be judged by how well he either does or does not clean up their mess.

As far as Pakistan is concerned, the troubles there go back before WWII, and the US and Britain were both involved with the politics of the region. Don't forget that Britain once controlled India, giving India Railroads, telegraph/telephone lines, improved roads, a common language (English) and more, lending to India's current prosperity.

Hamid Karzai is a lying cying crook. The current Pakistani regime are corrupt to the core, but we use them as "allies" to help stabilize a highly volatile region.

yes, tom, the protection that was paid by dick and dubya to keep their bogeyman, from whom they were protecting us, alive and well!

Why bother wasting money on drones? If we would just quit sending money, then either the other arab countries or russia or china will have to foot the bill. besides, the arabs like to fight for their correct persuasion of islam, approved by their imams and nut leaders. check out somalia, sudan, yemen, syria, and egypt.

Course washington is worried cause pak has the BOMB. course we have it too. so does Israel, and numerous western nations. Last use was nagasaki and hiroshima. 1945. In the event that we get nuked it aint gonna be a large bomb, and we will have casualties, however, as long as we reserve second strike, whoever decides to nuke us will end up nuclear glass. Unfortunately several arab countries dont understand that point well enough. Time for some Kennedy insurance. you hit us we hit you.

the downside we may not survive the islamic third world becoming nuclear. We had enough nut jobs in the US and Russia that thought there was a survivability to a first strike. The Islamikazis dont seem to understand the point of nuclear glass, and a radiation downwind message. there is no survivability in nuclear war. But since the arab leaders show no empathy for the people in their countries they might be willing to give nuke a try. I remember a story of a german company building nuclear survivable bomb shelters for the arab elite.

@Thomas,

The problem is that if Pakistan or Iran were to use a nuclear bomb on us or our allies, the current administration would ask them how much money they wanted not to do it again.

If anyone believes Pakistan is our friend, I have a bridge in Brookly for sale cheap....we give them 6 BILLION taxpayer dollars a year and they treat us with contempt. Does ANYONE doubt if we told them we were going to raid bin Laden's compound, he would not have been there?

If I could like your statement twice, I would.

Pakistan...do a "gut check" ?

They play both sides very well, and certain people/s(Karzai's and other top officials) in Pakistan make a lot of money. The Republican's probably treat their own people better.

Actually, that would be BILLIONS...billions and billions.

Your just jealous that the incompetent babbling, blundering Bush didn't get him!

ditto

Your just jealous that the incompetent babbling, blundering Bush didn't get him!

Neither did the blundering Clinton...Clinton had the first opportunity when Somalia offered to give Osama bin-Ladin up...Clinton refused to act..

Pulsar...... that's a flat out LIE! It was Sudan that offered up OBL, and they offered him to SAUDI ARABIA who might THEN hand him over to the US. A muslim country would NEVER offer up another Muslim to a non-believer's country! The SAUDIS declined! If you tell a lie often enough, people believe it. In this case, too many people know what really happened.

When Clinton tried to kill OBL Republicans claimed he was just doing it to divert attention away from the Lewinsky scandal and threatened to add this to the impeachment proceedings.

SHUT UP..shut up!!!!! Bush this Obama that..shut up!! Move if you do not like our voting system and Govt..

Bush started it, failed. Couldn't finish it and left his bad work for another man to finish. Job done. No blunder. Just an American patriot getting the job done. Unlike Bush and his war starting draft dodgers. Bunch of drunk womanizers.

During a February 2002 speech, Clinton explained that he turned down an offer from Sudan for bin Laden's extradition to the U.S., saying, "At the time, 1996, he had committed no crime against America, so I did not bring him here because we had no basis on which to hold him."

But that wasn't exactly true. By 1996, the 9/11 mastermind had already been named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing by prosecutors in New York.

You are correct...it wasn't Somalia, it was the Sudan..

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During a February 2002 speech, Clinton explained that he turned down an offer from Sudan for bin Laden's extradition to the U.S., saying, "At the time, 1996, he had committed no crime against America, so I did not bring him here because we had no basis on which to hold him."

But that wasn't exactly true. By 1996, the 9/11 mastermind had already been named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing by prosecutors in New York

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A muslim country would NEVER offer up another Muslim to a non-believer's country!

Deny it if you wish....but it did happen...

"Throw their agent under the bus"? You must be thinking of Valerie Plame.

Oh you mean the Valerie Plame who along with her husband blared the fact that she was CIA (Shout it from the Rooftops) all over DC?? That Valerie??? The one in the red convertible, with her scarf and hair blowing in the wind like some James (or Jane) Bond act-alike?? Real secretive she was. The hit of the party

Niki, You mean like the secret about where this murderer of Americans was being lavishly kept, through the payment of billions to his landlord, so conveniently coddled by dick and dubya, while they had a bogeyman from whom they were "protecting" us? and, btw, i agree that the current administration, while not culpable, could much better handle secrets -- for the benefit of all of us

Sheila: "SHUT UP..shut up!!!!! Bush this Obama that..shut up!! Move if you do not like our voting system and Govt.."

Wait a minute, Sheila, don't you understand that our ability to speak freely (free speech) is one of USA's greatest strengths? I may not agree with your opinion, but I will defend your right to state it with my life. It's one of the reasons we like our voting system and Gov't. Get it?

@GeorgeBurns. CLinton didn't try to get OBL He sent to missles into Afghanistan to two empty Terrorist training camps as a warning. That was just a stupid thing you wrote and I think we are all a little more stupid for reading it...

It sounds like Sudan didn't like Bin Laden, a rich elite from Saudi.....hmmmm, I wonder why ?

US policy in Pakistan has two main objectives.

1) Secure supply lines through Pakistan for the war in Afghanistan

2) Retain enough influence on Pakistan to keep them from using their nuclear weapons (probably against India), and more critically, from giving any of their nuclear weapons to Al Queda.

In hopes of achieving these objectives we're willing to put up with Pakistan's covert support of the Taliban and Al Queda.

Obama, Bush, Clinton, repubs, dems - they're all the same. The real stunner is why Americans continue to put up with the same old political crap. We need change now or we're doomed!

Did you hear the word appeasment on Fox? Also, who have they executed?

If only it were millions...it's 6 BILLION that we're pissing away.

I believe they did just confirm that.