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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Our View: The right (non) move on pot sales ... Jeffrey Gillespie: Evaluating the Trump bump ... Family Fun Bike Ride set for Saturday ... Our View: The right (non) move on pot sales ... Jeffrey Gillespie: Evaluating the Trump bump ... Family Fun Bike Ride set for Saturday ... COMMENTARY Chris Honoré: Things for which there are simply no satisfactory explanations Comment By Chris Honoré DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré Posted Apr. 27, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Chris Honoré Posted Apr. 27, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News Because I write what I think of as a weekly riff, I try to pay close attention to what is occurring not only in the U.S. but also in the world. Hence I often find myself hearing or reading news items that give me serious pause, ones that I place in that ever widening category of Things For Which There Are Simply No Satisfactory Explanations. Find below two examples. While diplomatic negotiations continue between the U.S. (et al.) and Iran regarding that country’s ability to develop nuclear weapons, something else is occurring in Pakistan that has been, in great part, ignored. This also has to do with weapons of mass destruction on a scale that defies understanding. Keep in mind that the context for all that follows is the fact that Pakistan is irrefutably poor and is trending toward increasing chaos and economic collapse, its institutions balanced on the edge of a precipice. The nation is also facing a Taliban insurgency, its intent being to destabilize the state. And yet, according to the New York Times, Pakistan possesses the fastest-growing nuclear arsenal in the world. Its leaders have recently approved a deal to purchase eight diesel-electric submarines from China for some $5 billion, which can be outfitted with nuclear-tipped missiles. Recently Pakistan test-fired ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads and reaching India. The Pakistani military is committed to developing tactical nuclear weapons to be used on the battlefield. Pakistan’s arsenal of nuclear weapons is in the range of 120, and they are committed to tripling that number within the decade. Meanwhile the country’s people are desperate for health care, schools and jobs. Like so many countries in South Asia and the Middle East, Pakistan is slipping into profound dysfunction while simultaneously arming itself for — what? Can anyone rationally believe that a nuclear response to any disagreement or perceived threat is legitimate or sane? But there it is, a nightmare scenario that could far exceed anything we are discussing with Iran. It’s not altogether dissimilar from living on a street with end-of-the-block neighbors sitting on the front porch with shotguns and assault rifles while their pit bulls busy themselves trying to dig under the chain-link fence. It’s disturbing and irrational, seemingly out of control and all in the extreme. Changing subjects, lifted from the New York Times: Three military officers, having already completed numerous tours in Iraq, are back in Iraq at Camp Taji, having bid a final farewell, or so they thought, to the country in 2011. They are part of a 300-soldier contingency attached to the 82nd Airborne, sent there to once again train the Iraqi army. Upon his arrival, Colonel John Schwemmer said he was stunned at the state in which he found the Iraqi soldiers. “It’s pretty incredible … what training did they have after we left?” he asked. The answer is little to none. As well, corruption is rife up and down the ranks and desertions commonplace. The Times article says the question is not did our forces leave too soon (as Republicans have repeatedly opined), but whether more training will instill in the Iraqis a will to fight for their own country. This echoes the refrain heard years ago — can we want freedom for the Iraqi people more than they do? There is another question embedded in this news story, one that has never been adequately answered: Why do the Taliban and ISIS and al-Qaida fighters seem far more committed and effective — they fight with an almost surreal ferocity — compared with the Iraqi forces? The insurgents have not received some $20 billion in U.S. weaponry and materiel, nor air support. And yet, when push came to shove last year, and a relatively small number of ISIS fighters (numbering in the low thousands) rolled brazenly into northern Iraq, four well-equipped divisions of Iraqi soldiers collapsed overnight, many leaving behind uniforms and weaponry and simply running away. What did $20 billion taxpayer dollars buy? Certainly not loyalty or a willingness to fight for a free Iraq, but that’s our fantasy, not theirs. And still we have returned, expecting a different result. Chris Honoré lives in Ashland. By Chris Honoré DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré Posted Apr. 27, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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