from (surprise) a
U.K. reporter (Julian Borger).
He details how this sudden action by the Pakistanis is just another shell in the Bush game:
Dr Khan is the "father" of the Pakistani nuclear programme and a prominent figure in Islamabad with extensive military and political contacts.
But when Gen Musharraf gave him a hasty pardon for his nuclear dealings on February 5, the Bush administration quickly accepted both that decision and the Pakistani government's claim not to have known what its acclaimed "national hero" had been up to.
Intelligence experts derided the warm diplomatic exchange as a pantomime. Robert Baer, a former CIA official with long experience in the region, insists the American and Pakistani administrations "knew about AQ Khan for years and they turned a blind eye".
"How can you pardon someone so early on in the investigation - particularly as it may turn out to be much worse," Mr Baer said. "Did he give anything up to Osama bin Laden? We don't know, yet we didn't demand a full accounting."
He and other critics have argued that American forbearance was bought, at least in part, by the Pakistani army's drive into the autonomous "tribal areas", venturing into fiercely independent Pashtun border regions like Waziristan province, scene of the current battle. A US intelligence source said Gen Musharraf "had to have some tangible rewards for committing the Pakistani military to combat in the tribal agencies".
The source pointed to a visit to Islamabad last month by the CIA director, George Tenet, which he said was intended to coordinate a multi-pronged assault on suspected Taliban and al-Qaida strongholds.
He said in return the US "went lightly on AQ Khan", but it did not waive American demands for intelligence from the Khan network on what it sold to whom and when. "We are getting that from the Pakistanis," he said.
I know we're all aware of this. And I don't expect CNN to try and explain it to anyone (they'd need, like, a reporter to do that!)
But last night on Bill Maher show, watching that Frum-creep take jabs at Gore Vidal, basically saying "You're an old man" just moved the defeat Bush need in my belly up one further notch. And no, I didn't think that was possible.
If I'm stepping on someone's post, I apologize.
If I make anyone break their keyboard, well, yeah, I apologize. Old iBooks are @$700 now, so maybe I'll get one just to read the "news" on, so I can fling it.
As penance, I'll try to make this interesting, with a poll that I think about:
Let's see who gets the high score. It's not me.