Outs, not ousts. Ousting him would be one thing. Dumping his identity to the jihadist public through the media is quite another.

A CIA turncoat outed the identity of a CIA station chief in, I think, Greece in the 1970s. He got murdered shortly thereafter.

Thus, Pakistan is not merely outing the name of our CIA station chief. They are also setting him up to be murdered, in the grand Islamist tradition of "I'll take this one step and let my jihadist buddies take the next, and then I'll claim I had nothing to do with any of it, and condemn the murder (slightly; with reservations, and fresh complaints about "occupying armies").

So this CIA chief will have to be evacuated ASAP, on threat of death.

To even call this "escalation" is a mistatement. Here's the series of actions so far:

Pakistan creates the Taliban in Afghanistan as a hyper-fundamentalist terrorist-friendly proxy government.

Pakistan supports the Taliban until they take over the country.

The Taliban, most likely with the go-ahead from Pakistan (its patron), invites Usama bin Ladin to live there, an offer he takes.

Protected in Afghanistan, Usama bin Ladin kills 3000 people, mostly American, some foreign, some Muslim.

Pakistan continues supporting the Taliban even as we go to war with them.

Pakistan apparently gives aid and shelter to Usama bin Ladin.

We kill Usama bin Ladin, venturing into his Pakistan hidey-hole to do so.

We note that Pakistan seems likely involved in hiding Usama bin Ladin.

To get even with us for the outrage of protecting ourselves against their murderers, Pakistan outs our CIA station chief.

Anyone besides me notice in that series of actions it's almost entirely Pakistan that's killing and harming Americans? Seems to me we took three corrective actions -- to stop things that shouldn't have been going on in the first place -- and Pakistan gets even via another murderous provocation.

Excerpt at Hot Air:

In a sign of how bad ties are between the two countries, Pakistani media on Saturday once again publicly named the CIA station chief in Islamabad, a breach of both protocol and trust, that is bound to enrage Washington.

A Pakistani TV channel and a newspaper considered mouthpieces of the countryÂ’s military said the ISI chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha had met CIA station chief Mark Carlton to protest US incursion into Abbottabad to kill al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden. CIA station chiefs remain anonymous and unnamed in public although the host government is told.

Earlier, the Obama administration had asked Pakistan to disclose names of its top intelligence operatives to determine whether they had contact with Osama or his agents.

The latest breach indicates that a section of the Pakistani military-intelligence establishment is determined to run the CIA out of the country fearing that the ISIÂ’s links with terror groups and its sheltering of terrorist leaders will be exposed.

This is going to get very ugly. It will be bad for America, but it will be worse for Pakistan.

At some point, they can no longer be permitted to wage a coward's war on their own terms. If they want to ride the tiger, they should be made to ride the goddamned tiger.

But in the Meantime: Surely we have a list of their homosexual ISI agents and generals and fundamentalist clerics. And their adulterers and whoremongers and pedophiles and porn addicts.

Obama should deploy Alinksy's rule against our actual enemies and make them live up to their own rulebook.

Posted by: Ace at 01:32 PM | Comments (124)
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There is, indeed, water at the bottom of the ocean.

JayZ may not have women problems, but he's got way too many others. (At least that's what I got out of the song. I am a deep, deep thinker afterall. My shorts prove that.)

A Maserati can go 185 but don't test it or else you will lose your license and be forced to ride in a limo.

Little Jack Horner is homeless because he did cocaine.

God did in fact make man but he used a monkey (who supplied the glue) to do it.

You cannot eat pudding before you eat your meat. That is just preposterous.

Governor Jerry Brown's aura smiles and never frowns; and his zen fascists will control all of us someday.

Lastly, I learned that Friday comes after Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Open Thread, and if you can figure out every song I am referencing, your life is as sad as mine. Uplifting thought of the day.

Posted by: CAC at 11:39 AM | Comments (797)
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Chalk up this op-ed as another woe is me being a muslim in America op-ed. A Muslim American Reflects On Osama Bin Laden's Death. While it sucks that you have been put on a watchlist, other non-muslims are singled out for silly politically correct procedures so as NOT to offend muslims (like patdowns of 6 year old girls and active duty military on one way tickets to their deployed unit, etc) so forgive me if I really don't care about this Mr. Chowdhury. more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 08:07 AM | Comments (317)
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This AP article seems to suggest that.

The setup (emphasis mine in the blockquotes):

”SAN FERNANDO, Mexico (AP) - When he was deported from the U.S. to Mexico for the third time, Martin Estrada Luna was a high school dropout from Washingon state with a rap sheet of petty crimes like burglary.”

“Less than two years later, Mexican authorities say, he has transformed himself into a drug baron known as El Kilo, the leader of a ruthless cell of the Zetas gang who masterminded the mass killings of more than 250 people. He is now under arrest in Mexico City”

“Mexican prosecutors have not presented any evidence publicly to support their claim that he was responsible for the deaths of 72 migrants in August and 183 people months later. The Mexican government often announces big arrests immediately after high-profile crimes, but according to its own statistics, three-quarters of those initially accused as drug traffickers or assassins are let go without charges.”

HereÂ’s the monitor-punching part (see legal notice below):

”Whether he was a big player or not, Estrada Luna appears to have succumbed to a cross-border crime culture that is growing as hundreds of thousands of deportees with criminal backgrounds are dumped in Mexico. Under a tough-on-crime immigration crackdown, half of the 393,000 people deported from the United States between October 2009 and September 2010 were convicted criminals, with crimes that could have ranged from minor drug offenses to murder.”

Deep breaths. Take deep breaths.

Like you, IÂ’m outraged that Estrada was dumped in Mexico where he succumbed to the crime culture. What choice did this lovable street urchin have aside from the one that we forced upon him? If only weÂ’d kept him here, in a nurturing environment, forgiving his small sins, then those 250-odd people might still be alive today.

(Why, they were nothing more than pranks, really. Which of us havenÂ’t done a little burglary on occasion? I swiped some Post-It Notes from work once.)

Be ashamed. Be very ashamed.

*Legal Notice: AoSHQ and its affiliates bear no responsibility for any damage done to your computer monitor as a result of having read this article. This includes actions such as putting your fist through it and/or hurling heavy objects at it.*

Posted by: Genghis at 06:06 AM | Comments (118)
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Due to the recent Sony security debacle, I had to cancel my credit card and get a new one. Thus, I was not able to impulse-buy any Kindle books in the past week that looked interesting. I guess that's a good thing...I have to work my way through all the books I haven't finished reading yet.

I've got so many books sitting in my reading queue right now that it'll take me the rest of the summer to work my way through them. The current one (which I think I've mentioned before) is John Mauldin's Endgame: The End of the Debt Supercycle and How It Changes Everything.

What's everyone else reading?

Posted by: Monty at 05:12 AM | Comments (69)
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Don't forget to give your Mom a call and wish her a happy Mother's day.

Posted by: Monty at 04:59 AM | Comments (104)
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Abandon all hope, Ye who comment here.

Yer Favorite Car (Or truck, van etc.):

Well, "Perfect Album" seemed to go over well last night. Everyone seemed to be in a sharing mood. So let's try this essay question:

What is the best car you ever owned/drove/crashed/got laid in/stole or any combination of these? Provide a proof for your reasoning. Extra credit if your answer is in iambic pentameter

Please take out a No. 2 pencil. Answers are due by the end of the thread. You may begin.

Ammended: toby928 also mentions his worst ride, so feel free to add that to your essay. (Tobys 1 through 927 could not be reached for comment.)

Some more stuff below the fold which you'll ignore just like you did last night *sniffle.*
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Posted by: Genghis at 06:20 PM | Comments (711)
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Modo. She's conflicted except she's not.

But within days, Naval Seal-gazing shifted to navel-gazing

That's the only part I wanted to quote, because it's stupid as fuck. She has the gift, she does. Pulitzerer.

When you've harangued and fussed about all these unlawful acts and crimes against the world, things get complicaty. You tried as might, to tell your boyfriend to stop fussing over his ears, "we're trying to toughen you up."

He kind of resisted the advice.

Make shit up and pretend it's intelligent.

Make words Maureen, to the significantly smaller readership.

You go girl.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 04:17 PM | Comments (262)
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"AAAAAGGGHH."
"YeaaAARRrrrrr."
"RAAAARRRRG."
"WaaaaAAAAhhh!"
"Yeah! See ya!"

Add your faves, or just about anything else on your minds. more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 02:10 PM | Comments (365)
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Commenter "Crusty" had a good idea. He went back and looked at George W. Bush's speech after the capture of Saddam Hussein in order to compare it with Obama's self-aggrandizing "I was practically there, man" speech last Sunday. You know, the one where he used the word "I" like a carpenter uses tenpenny nails. Victor Davis Hanson pulled all the first person references:

“Tonight, I can report . . . And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta . . . I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden . . . I met repeatedly with my national security team . . . I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action. . . . Today, at my direction . . . I’ve made clear . . . Over the years, I’ve repeatedly made clear . . . Tonight, I called President Zardari . . . and my team has also spoken. . .These efforts weigh on me every time I, as Commander-in-Chief . . . Finally, let me say to the families . . . I know that it has, at times, frayed. . . .”

Compare that with the speech given by George W. Bush on December 14, 2003:
more...

Posted by: rdbrewer at 09:38 AM | Comments (542)
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