Fareed Zakaria joined Bill Maher last week to talk about Pakistan, Iran, and the general level of discourse concerning foreign policy during the corporate-sponsored “debates”.

Robert Gates, the US defense secretary, has said the United States is prepared to send troops to Pakistan to fight alongside the country’s forces against Islamic fighters.

“We remain ready, willing and able to assist the Pakistanis and to partner with them, to provide additional training, to conduct joint operations, should they desire to do so,” Gates said on Thursday.

He also made it clear that his country was open to providing more direct assistance.

Asked if he envisaged US combat troops and Pakistani forces operating together, Gates said: “If the Pakistanis wanted to do that, I think we would.”

Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said Gates’ suggestion would anger most Pakistanis.

He said: “The Pakistani people believe that it is only their armed forces that are able to handle the continued violence in the tribal region.”

“Musharraf himself said that if foreign intervention is applied, it would be construed as an act of war.

“But ultimately, the government believes that an end to the conflict is via a political solution - not a military one - and it should not be dictated from overseas.”

The US military is under strain from fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the Bush administration says it is concerned about the ongoing clashes in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

read more…