Given all the justifications the neocons have laid on us about why we went into Iraq and why we should take action against Iran, it certainly seems to me that same logic demands we immediately cross the border and attack Southern Pakistan.

Musharaf is washing his hands of the area.

Recent intelligence analysts have concluded that Al Quaida is as strong or stronger than they were on 9/11.

Southern Pakistan is clearly the hideout now.

So, why are our resident conservatives and war mongers concentrating so much on Iraq and Iran when the target seems clear?

Hmm, could it be because we get in bed with the devil when it's convenient and there's profit in it? Is it because Pakistan is a nuclear power and we fear destabilizing the current regime and unleashing that arsenal to radicals? Are our administrators cowering under the specter of Russia and China who just might be threatened by such an incursion?

Let's see now. We're doing brainstorming on this issue, rating pros and cons of an action that could have far-reaching implications even though there's compelling reason for an immediate attack. Hell, we had tremendous motivation right after 9/11 to just blow into the region when we took on Afghanistan and yet somehow, for almost 6 years since the towers fell, we've just stopped at that rocky border and let really bad guys just sit over there mooning us.

Instead we took the "easy road". We found a place where we knew we could have our way militarily, a place any bonehead would know had nothing at all to do with the primary source of our rage. We knew we had a Catch-22 with Pakistan (and not to mention Saudi Arabia) so we needed a convenient scapegoat. What better one than the thug of thugs Saddam. And, of course there was also real motivation for our business leaders who tend to profit immensely from an occupation of a heavily populated area but only get meager business from small tight incursions into mountainous regions.

The other problem with going into Pakistan is what happens if you truly do decapitate Al-Quaida and "win the war"? It seems obvious to me that suddenly your fear-based patriotic shield is peeled away and you become judged on your other traits which we have seen are pathetic.

I'm certain that my question will be sidestepped here because it exposes the huge hypocrisy of our recent foreign policy. We had obvious targets after 9/11 that we could never go after because we had helped to create them in the first place. It's an unwinnable scenario no matter how you slice it unless you simply do the one thing we never seem to do - learn from this fiasco, stop entangling ourselves in the affairs of others, circle the wagons to prevent the crazies from spilling into your playground, and let societal evolution occur naturally in these fire pits.

Art