The Danger that Pakistan poses to the World
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Recently, the British PM, Gordon Brown, stated that almost 75% of the planned/completed terrorist attacks on Britain had a Pakistani link and involved Britons of Pakistani origin. The shoe bomber, Richard Reid, traveled to Pakistan and got indoctrinated/brainwashed there. The Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and beheaded in Pakistan. The 1993 World Trade Center bombing mastermind, Ramzi Yousef, planned his attacks living comfortably in Pakistan. Both the Al-Qaeda and Taliban leadership is thought to be living in the Northwestern part of Pakistan. The Taliban seemingly operates with covert Pakistani military support, according to NATO military officials. In the face of all these facts, it would be foolhardy to ignore this country and the dangers that it poses to the world.
The West always seems to have a myopic view when it comes to dealing with problem countries. Case in point is Iraq under Saddam Hussein. Because the US considered Iran the greater enemy, it pumped in military hardware and lethal weapon systems into Iraq. All these deadly weapons were sold to the Saddam regime thinking that they would be used against Iran. But, ironically, the US had to fight those same weapon systems when it eventually decided to fight against Saddam. This strategy of arming suspect countries is foolish and short-sighted.
The Bush Administration has chosen to repeat the mistakes of the past in arming Pakistan with F16s and other high-tech military hardware supposedly "to fight the Taliban." Well, if the Pakistanis really wanted they could've taken out the Taliban a long time back. The Taliban leadership practically lives in Pakistani cities. Yet, the Pakistanis can't (or don't want to) catch them and eliminate them. The Pakistanis having supported the Taliban in the past, it would be naive to think that they've suddenly changed colors and now are fighting their erstwhile "brothers." In fact, recently, the Pakistani Taliban announced that they would fight alongside the Pakistani Army against India. No wonder then that the Pakistani Army isn't pushing hard to rid their country of Taliban or help NATO troops fight them. In fact, recently, right inside Pakistani territory, they torched NATO military trucks carrying supplies to Afghanistan. This couldn't have happened without official Pakistani support.
Pakistan says its an "ally" and Pakistan says it has "fought terror" and says it is a "victim of terror." However, the fact is that it has been not more than a unwilling, reluctant partner in fighting terrorism. They chose to side with the US under threats by the Bush Adm, not because they wanted to.
Today, you have Pakistan sitting on hundreds of nuclear bombs. Bombs that Pakistan obtained through the nuclear thievery. Pakistan's bomb has been called the Islamic bomb and there have been reports recently that Mr. A. Q. Khan (the father of the Pakistani nuclear bomb) discussed nuclear weapons with Osama Bin Laden in the past. The Pakistanis haven't handed over Mr. Khan to the FBI or US Intelligence for fear of more such secrets coming out tumbling from their closet. If ever a nuclear bomb is set off in a city like New York or any other western city, you can be pretty much sure that this man (A. Q. Khan) would be responsible.
The news reports today say that the Pakistanis are pulling out troops from the Afghan border to the Indian border and are getting ready for a war with India. This move doesn't serve US interests or NATO interests in Afghanistan. Perhaps, the Pakistanis just want to get together with the Taliban and fight India. The Taliban have already offered to fight alongside the Pakistani troops. One wonders who the Pakistanis are really fighting. Are they fighting the Taliban or do they consider the Taliban their brothers? The world is sold the idea that the Pakistanis are fighting the Taliban, when in fact the Taliban are offering to fight with the Pakistani Army. Why would they want to do that - if not for the fact that the Pakistani Army is in cahoots with them.
Instead of whipping up war frenzy in Pakistan and calling for a war with India, which serves no one, Pakistan should fight the terrorists. Is India (a democratic country that has been attacked by terrorists) to the fought or should Pakistan fight the Taliban and Al-Qaeda on its soil. The world would be a much peaceful place - if Pakistan chose to address its own terrorists than to seek to wage war. A war with India would possibly result in Pakistan using nuclear weapons on India, since it can't win a conventional war with India. Such an irresponsible action would not not kill millions of Indians and Pakistanis but would also make life a living hell for other countries through the dangers of radiation pollution resulting from the radiation cloud that would result from any use of nuclear weapons.
The world needs to monitor Pakistani actions to ensure that they are not making cosmetic efforts to rid their territory of terrorists. In the past, they've banned a terrorist organization only to have it return by another name and continue with its terror activities. They need to be told to take strong measures against the Taliban in their country, who seem to be gaining in strength with each passing day. They should be told to hand over their nuclear scientist A. Q. Khan to international authorities so that they can assess how much damage this man has done by proliferating nuclear weapons to terrorist organizations/terrorist countries.
Watch this country (Pakistan) and see how often a reference to this country crops up in terrorist attacks around the world.
Julaha 3 years ago
A nice analysis, but one lacunae here is the China factor. China is a close ally of Pakistan. The Pakistanis call China the all-weather friend. The first country that Zardari visited after becoming President was China. China has also established very close ties with the Taliban, whom it is supplying deadly weapon either through the agency of the Pakistan army or directly, in exchange for drug money. So an axis is emerging between China, the Taliban and Pakistan. China wants to use the Taliban and Pakistan to mire the US in a prolonged war in Afghanistan, which would benefit both China and Pakistan. The benefit to China is that the war would weaken the US and help it to gain upperhand over the US. For Pakistan a protracted war means that it will receive billions of dollars as compensation.
There is also a possibility of Iran joining this triumpharate, and if that happens it would be curtains for the US in the middle-east, and China would become the new suzerain of the middle-east.
The Chinese economy needs an inexaustible supple of raw material including oil to sustain it in the coming years and it is making very calculated moves to ensure an uninterrupted supply of crucial raw materials for it. This includes buying much of the African governments by offering them military equipment and investing in oil fields in central Asia. Look at the ease with which China could get the South African government to ban the Dalai Lama from the meeting of Nobel Lauretes in South Africa.
China has a eye on the middle-eastern oil and is viewing the Afghanistan war as an opportunity for it to fish in troubled waters. For it the Taliban and Pakistan are the cat's paws in this region.
Pakistan is not averse to cosying with China for this relationship does not evoke guttural hatred in the ordinary Pakistani as does Pakistan's hobnobbing with America.
So the China angle is the crux of anything that is happening in Afghanistan-Pakistan.