wasnt it you L that said thanks to the war in iraq, a lot of the al-Qaeda types have moved east?

Thanks for this.
You have a way with the mother tongue that defies description, an exemplary economy of words that comes right to the point.

Why has this completely deluded fucking incompetent egocentric bumbler not been axed?

Because his boss is even worse?

in the alternative, how long can the American policy establishment continue its deluded focus on States alone?

:: sigh :: Wish I had a firm answer for you there...so far it's been much longer than my worst nightmares. Any idea what to do about it, preferably something that might have some concrete effect before the next election cycle?

[hmmmm, must think in the long term as well. How to get the U.S. to look beyond the end of its own block? That's the real isue here - how many people think their government is doing a peachy job, and that everyone else is a bunch of idiots.]

Maybe he's just lying, or putting a good face on those countries. He is a politician, after all. It looks better if the he says the country they're considering selling arms to isn't likely to be infiltrated by extremists, with the result being some of those weapons ending up in the hands of terrorists. He may just be trying to deflect that particular concern. Or maybe not.

"Bloody idiot. What a complete bloody idiot. Why has this completely deluded fucking incompetent egocentric bumbler not been axed?"

Because he can make the Pentagon bureaucracy jump at least half of the time. A rare skill among SecDefs, most of whom leave office not knowing anymore about the DoD than when they went in.