Political dividends

First, happy birthday to TD Dad.
And now… on with the opera. It seems that after the Koran desecration incidents and the forcefeeding of hunger striking detainees, the operation of GTMO was not exactly the most popular thing we were doing, in the eyes of the Pakistani public and media. Hence, the decision to post former GTMO commander Gen. Jay Hood to the embassy in Islamabad met with a great deal of derision and resistance, and, amidst that, has now been withdrawn by the U.S. government.
You will recall that after allegations of a Koran being flushed down a toilet at GTMO, riots broke out in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and around 17 people were killed in them. While those particular allegations were debunked. at least two accounts on this blog from soldiers serving there (Saar and Yee, both of whom served before Hood, btw) confirmed that the detainees’ religion was certainly being disrespected at Guantanamo Bay.
In any event, our military liaison in Pakistan, home of both OBL and nuclear weapons, is kind of important. But apparently, our little project down Cuba way to show the rest of the world how tough we were was evidently more important, and hence, it seems, our government will have to chose someone without a GTMO taint to serve in Pakistan.
Just another day at the office, I suppose. Six and a half years and counting, if the office is Guantanamo Bay, and around 256 days left of the Bush Administration. Deep sighs all around.