Pakistan holds an ace in poker match with America,

[Trango Towers]

Pkaistan has no Ace but only a Joker card. That is threatening USA by putting a gun to its own head.

But the joker is smart enough to fool them for 15 year and 33 billion as they claim.

 

[Zibago]

There's no purpose to be there anymore. Other than al-Zawahiri the people we were after are long dead. Dropping bombs on people who were 10 layers down the command chain is silly.

Obama learned it the hard way maybe the stable genius will too you cant rebuild a nation that wasnt a nation to begin with and whose people still think Americans are communist Russians

 

[infinity73]

Trump had a positive meeting with Kazakh president in the white house. Trump's response and WH statements suggest they havesome sort of understanding over the northern route.

Russians on their part have influence on central asian states but they are independent at the end of the day.

The key will be US covert support for ISIS in Afghanistan. That is the red line for Moscow and they have already expressed concerns in this regard (reports of airdrops for daesh in unmarked planes etc.) If daesh gets a foothold in Afghanistan regional states will hold US responsible as Afghan government is powerless outside kabul.

In such a scenario central asian states would be forced to close access routes as well. In the meantime Trump has the leverage to put pakistan under pressure. For Pakistan the positive is that we can getunited under US pressure. Unity is what we need right now and a break from the liberals constantly whining.

 

[django]

It all depends on the US appetite for war. And given the past history of Republican presidents, Trump will be most happy to start a new one. Especially to keep himself relevant when his popularity is going down. At this point, let us not act like ostriches. Logic makes it clear that we should be making preparations for war NOW.

But unlike in the past with Iraq and Libya, Pakistan is right next doors to China, with Chinese investment in Gawadar and a lot of friendly interaction. So unless Mr Trump really is mad, there will not be a full on invasion.

But that doesn't preclude attack by Afghan and Indian forces under American aegis. The American general's (forgot his name) words are extremely dubious: they won't take unilateral action. That doesn't mean there wouldn't be a trilateral or multi-lateral attack. Countries to watch out for are: India, Afghanistan, Australia, and Iran. Australia because it is literally the dog's tail and America has deep penetration and political capital within the government. Iran because America needs to only dangle the right carrot and they will readily acquiesce.

We need Saudi Arabia and the natural animosity to keep Iran solidly in the Russo-China block. China is already engaging India in the North, meaning they need to actually start worrying about a credible presence along with supply chain, logistics etc.

But given the twin buffoons of Trump and Modi, there is a chance of mischief, especially in the Indian ocean. Remember China is planning to build bases, but the same are not fully operational yet. The naval theatre is our weakness currently and if things move towards stopping American supply lines, a punitive naval blockade cannot be ruled out. The beauty of a blockade is that it is non-violent, yet still causes a lot of damage. It can make us completely dependent on China, much like North Korea. The idea would be to impose a blockade and get us to give concessions without crossing the nuclear threshold.

When I joined this forum, I used to be against testing an ICBM and could on and on arguing why it was against Pakistan's interests.
But today I'm 100% convinced that Pakistan should not only test an MIRVed ICBM (an Ababeel but with a range of +12000 km) but also test TNs with massive yield.
But the tests should be followed by very soft and nice diplomatic lingo and hang the traitor Khawajasra Asif Harami

Totally concur with your opinion gents with exception of @CriticalThought suggestion of Iran operating against Pak at the possible behest of US, the current US administration is already thinking of scrapping the Iran nuclear deal and imposing even more sanctions, I cannot see any improvement in relations between the two , if anything I suspect the new Saudi leadership may try to arm twist us at the behest of their new best buddy Mr Kushner.
@war&peace If they try another Salala like incident, then without doubt all restrictions on our strategic weapons programs need to be removed, after all under international law we have the right to protect ourselves and neither are we a signatory to the CTBT so a high yield Thermo-nuclear test alongside a Neutron bomb test is a most appropriate response, the US will no doubt put sanctions and EU will follow yet China will continue with CPEC, the Saudis and other Gulf states will still maintain strong economic relations though the US will try to twist their arms, if the US suceeds then we should become closer to Qatar and Iran, in regards to Turkey, Mr Erdogan will never yield to US pressures, we can ALWAYS count on our Turkish brethren @HAKIKAT .Kudos Gents

 

[CriticalThought]

Totally concur with your opinion gents with exception of @CriticalThought suggestion of Iran operating against Pak at the possible behest of US, the current US administration is already thinking of scrapping the Iran nuclear deal and imposing even more sanctions, I cannot see any improvement in relations between the two , if anything I suspect the new Saudi leadership may try to arm twist us at the behest of their new best buddy Mr Kushner.
@war&peace If they try another Salala like incident, then without doubt all restrictions on our strategic weapons programs need to be removed, after all under international law we have the right to protect ourselves and neither are we a signatory to the CTBT so a high yield Thermo-nuclear test alongside a Neutron bomb test is a most appropriate response, the US will no doubt put sanctions and EU will follow yet China will continue with CPEC, the Saudis and other Gulf states will still maintain strong economic relations though the US will try to twist their arms, if the US suceeds then we should become closer to Qatar and Iran, in regards to Turkey, Mr Erdogan will never yield to US pressures, we can ALWAYS count on our Turkish brethren @HAKIKAT .Kudos Gents

In the world of international politics, there are no lines etched in stone. Everything is a vested interests game. The Americans will court Iran if they find their interests best served by doing so. And Iran will turn on us with the right incentives. As I said, let us not act like ostriches.

 

[Baghial]

Keep on feeding your pet dog India. See how far it'll get ya. In regards to the threat of war, I am sure most Pakistanis would say bring it.

bring it on, ......... finally we will see cowards, and patriots.
99% of politcians will be the first to run out of pakistan.

 

[django]

In the world of international politics, there are no lines etched in stone. Everything is a vested interests game. The Americans will court Iran if they find their interests best served by doing so. And Iran will turn on us with the right incentives. As I said, let us not act like ostriches.

Agreed but at the same time we are very, very far away from a thaw in Iran/US relations unless the govt was to collapse which is certainly not impossible.Kudos

 

[CriticalThought]

Agreed but at the same time we are very, very far away from a thaw in Iran/US relations unless the govt was to collapse which is certainly not impossible.Kudos

Nobody knows what goes on in back channel diplomacy. The point is we cannot be complacent. Every threat MUST be discussed honestly, frankly, and openly. Then plans MUST be prepared to counter the same. Lastly, we MUST remain mentally prepared, in case the eventuality of executing the plans comes to fruition.