I am not going to give much attention to the latest attack in Lahore, Pakistan. It is tragic, but what was more tragic is that the defense and security of crucial institutions over there, is given so little attention. And how much money have we given this country over the course of the war? Billions, and this little police academy does not have any weapons or security set up? pffft. How many wake up calls will it take there Pakistan?
Lahore is the target, and the enemy will do all they can to destabilize it. So far, they are doing pretty damned good. Maybe along with this money and US oversight, the Pakistanis can insure that police stations and training facilities are actually protected and armed? Just a thought, seeing how the police are crucial to maintaining stability and they are the first responders to attacks like this.
The other aspect of this that I would be very curious about, is the possible contracts that might come out of this latest funding? Obama has said, no US troops in Pakistan. But he did not mention anything about contractors. I know there are US advisors there, but in no real substantial numbers. Perhaps, and I am just furthering the Vietnam analogy, maybe Pakistan will become our new Laos?
During the Vietnam war, we also fought a war in Laos, and contractors were a huge component of that war.(Air America comes to mind) If that were the case, things could become kind of interesting over the years, and I will keep my eyes open. I just keep thinking, how the heck are we supposed to depend on the Pakistanis to destroy Al Qaeda? Are we going to keep throwing drones and money at the problem, to destroy the enemy, because that certainly has not worked. –Matt
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Air America Bell 205’s in Long Tieng, Laos.
Obama to Propose $2.8 Billion in Military Aid to Pakistan
That money would be in addition to the civilian aid — $1.5 billion a year for five years — that the president called for Friday.
By Justin Fishel
FOXNews.com
Monday, March 30, 2009
President Obama plans to propose spending roughly $2.8 billion in aid for the Pakistani military, as he steps up the U.S.-led campaign to battle extremists along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
That money would be in addition to the civilian aid — $1.5 billion a year for five years — that the president called for Friday.
A defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told FOX News the money will be dedicated exclusively to “equipping, training, and building infrastructure directly related to counterinsurgency operations.”
Gen. David Petraeus told FOX News in an interview Monday the plan will be called the “Pakistani Counterinsurgency Capability Fund”.
Officials were quick to point out that U.S. commanders would have control over how the money is spent, and that none of it would be spent in a way that would give Pakistan a greater capacity to attack another country, such as India.
The money would be distributed over five years, with the first $400 million of it added to the fiscal year 2009 supplemental request for war fighting. Another $700 million would be in the fiscal 2010 base budget. Then $575 million would be spent each year from fiscal 2011 through 2013.
In his speech on Friday, President Obama described Pakistan’s lawless border region as “the most dangerous place in the world.”
Story Here
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Overview of the Secret War in Laos (Wikipedia)
Main articles: History of Laos since 1945, First Indochina War, North Vietnamese invasion of Laos, Vietnam War, and Ho Chi Minh Trail
After the Geneva Conference established Laotian neutrality, North Vietnamese forces continued to operate in southeastern Laos. North Vietnam established the Ho Chi Minh trail on Laotian territory and supported an indigenous communist rebellion, the Pathet Lao, to help. The Ho Chi Minh trail was designed for North Vietnamese troops to infiltrate the Republic of Vietnam and to aid the National Liberation Front.
To disrupt these operations without direct military involvement, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) responded by training a force of some thirty thousand Laotians, mostly local Hmong tribesmen along with the Mien and Khmu, led by Royal Lao Army General Vang Pao, a Hmong military leader. This army, supported by the CIA proprietary airline Air America, Thailand and the Royal Lao Air Force, fought the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN), the National Liberation Front (NLF), and their Pathet Lao allies to a standstill, greatly aiding U.S. interests in the war in Vietnam. There were repeated attempts from 1954 onward to get the North Vietnamese out of Laos, but regardless of any agreements or concessions, Hanoi had no intention of abandoning the country or its allies. Beyond immediate military necessity, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) viewed Laos as a younger brother needing guidance. In 1968, North Vietnam launched a multi-division attack on the Royal Lao Army. The heavy weapons and scale of the PAVN attack could not be matched by the national army and it was effectively sidelined for several years.
Although the existence of the conflict in Laos was sometimes reported in the U.S., and described in press reports as the CIA’s “Secret War in Laos”, details were largely unavailable due to official government denials that the war even existed. The denials were seen as necessary considering that the North Vietnamese government and the U.S. had both signed agreements specifying the neutrality of Laos. U.S. involvement was considered necessary because the DRV had effectively conquered a large part of the country and was equally obfuscating its role in Laos. Despite these denials, however, the Civil War was actually the largest U.S. covert operation prior to the Afghan-Soviet War, with areas of Laos controlled by North Vietnam subjected to years of intense American aerial bombardment, representing the heaviest U.S. bombing campaign since World War II.