One of the best al Qaeda watchers, Paul Cruickshank, thinks the Bhutto assassination has all the markings of al Qaeda. The Pakistan government has now accused al Qaeda of the crime. But others are noting that many in Pakistan — even in government circles — wanted Bhutto done away with.
I have just had an interesting discussion with someone close to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. This person says that Bloomberg isn’t giving away anything regarding whether he might run for the presidency — or whether he’ll pour into concrete his non-denial denials.
It’s snowing quite a bit here in eastern Iowa today, a not all that unremarkable fact this time of year, except. . .
If this is a time of policy and not politics — prove it. Work together. Pakistan is in confusion about its future — and whether we want to admit it or not — America has real stakes in the course Pakistan takes and very, very few options in affecting that course.
Obama Campaign Chief Political Strategist David Axelrod What the hell is Obama chief political strategist David Axelrod doing? Nearly all of the major papers and a good slug of blogs have noted with some surprise his comment that Hillary Clinton bore some responsibility for Benazir Bhutto’s demise.
Let me add an Iowa-ear view on the earlier posts on the reliability of polling in Iowa. (first post and second post) In previous incarnations I have had the pleasure of administering political polls, putting the thumb-screws to poll numbers in graduate school, and even teaching a college course on public opinion.
Chris Nelson is correct that while the world is debating the state of democracy in Pakistan — the military and intel elites are worried about what they should be concerned about — the nukes. Here is today’s Nelson Report in full: The Nelson Report, 27 December 2007 PAKISTAN SITUATION. . .predictable? Nukes safe. . ….
I am a fan of Zbigniew Brzezinski and generally agree with him that in order to get America’s national security portfolio back together — we have to be wary of seductive assertions that the U.S. can easily manipulate political realities in a place like Pakistan in pursuit of platitudes.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has just declared three days of mourning in the wake of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s murder.
Recently, I wrote about my own surprise that Barack Obama had not called together a policy or issue-oriented hearing in his role as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee/Subcommittee on Europe. I followed this up with a piece that explored what various presidential candidates were reporting on their travel.
