Balaji,
I guess the news does spread far… but for all the differences of opinion, the US military is thoroughly professional – they will follow the orders of the civilian Commander in Chief.

Btw, McChrystal was doing what is called a CYA here ( Cover your a**) – he came out in public, because
A. He does not trust Obama actually understands the severity of the situation
B. He can claim later on when America retreats eventually from Afghanistan that his advice was not heeded. And that would be a fair point to make.

BUT..he will listen to Obama on what to do – he has no other choice but to listen to the civilian Govt even if he disagrees with them.

So if the generals wanted to demonstrate how that strategy will fail, they just had to let Obama know where militants will go once they start bombing in NWFP and FATA. That is, militants will just move south to Baluchistan. Demonstrating that Jundallah (which is alive and kicking) can host the foreign militants if and when TTP can no longer do, seems to be the objective.
You left me dazed here….the Jundallah is a bit player here.. the TTP actually has more venom and wreck more havoc.. And you talk about bombing NWFP and FATA as though they were two tiny spots on the map..

If the US wanted to bomb the NWFP and FATA to the Stone Age, they ALREADY would have done so.. Here’s a newsflash for you – the US is NOT China or Soviet Union – either of those two would have flattened Pakistan by now, if they found themselves in the same quagmire as the US is in right now.

true. I have no proof. But its common knowledge that the US military and the civilian leadership have divergent opinion on Afghanistan. The generals have been publicly rebuked for asking a surge. The gaining civilian opinion seems to be to bomb the hell out of Pashtun areas but stay away from counter insurgency operations.

So if the generals wanted to demonstrate how that strategy will fail, they just had to let Obama know where militants will go once they start bombing in NWFP and FATA. That is, militants will just move south to Baluchistan. Demonstrating that Jundallah (which is alive and kicking) can host the foreign militants if and when TTP can no longer do, seems to be the objective.

Balaji, you have zero proof to back up such claims- the US military is known to be thoroughly professional and is under civilian control – did you for a minute confuse it with the Paki military ?

Obama has been very soft on Iran – his reaction to the Iranian mullahs slaughtering their citizens openly after the elections in June, was muted to put it mildly.

The US military is highly sensitive to what Iranian proxies in Iraq can and have done to them. What exactly do they gain against a hardliner like Ahmedinejad by killing Iranian RG’s ?? If anything this only gives Iran another excuse to satanize the US..

I wouldnt be surprised if the Saudi’s were involved – they provide the money and their Paki footsoldiers carry out the deed…

The entire effort at this point seems to be delegitimize the Pakistani state, wherein the puppet politicians take the blame, while strengthening the hand of the Pakistani army. The more crisis there is in the region, more powerful and important the Pakistani army becomes.

This blast in Iran is likely to have been ordered by the US/Pakistani army themselves to heighten the tension, thereby any political solution is thwarted and its left to US and Pakistani generals to lord over things.

Remember, like Pakistan, US Military at this point is working independent of its political leadership.