When Time is Running Out

Lots of military hardware in the blogs these days and the Zoo is no exception. Seen here an unmanned Predator drone, typically armed with 100 pound Hellfire missiles.
Why are we featuring this device today ? Because the Washington Post reports it is the weapon of choice for stepped up unilateral U.S. attacks in the tribal areas of Pakistan.
And why, class, is the tempo of our attacks on sovereign Pakistani soil increasing ? Because time is running out on the authority of President Pervez Musharraf who can be counted on to give them a wink and a nod. The new Pakistani leadership will likely be less compliant.
The description of these operations in the Post belies, somewhat, the notion that these are "precision" strikes.

"They [local informers] see traffic coming and going from the fortress homes of tribal leaders associated with foreign elements, and they pass the information along," said Shuja Nawaz, a Pakistani journalist in Washington and the author of a book on Pakistan's army. "Some quick surveillance is done, and then someone pops a couple of hundred-pound bombs at the house."

There are, of course, political, ethical, tactical and strategic reasons for decrying this sort of thing, but that isn't they reason we are troubled here at the Zoo. Its because time is running out on another operation dues to the soon disappearing power of the principal actors.

We speak, of course, of Messrs. Bush and Cheney and of their plan to destroy Iran's nuclear capability with air attacks before they leave office. In case you missed our recent blog on the subject, "Maybe We Should Just Relax ?", you can find it here where we detail the reasons, or some of them, why unease is appropriate.

If you can think of a way to prevent the Iran attack, please let us know. We will hand-letter a NZNR t-shirt for the winning proposal.