The siege of Benazir Bhutto, and its perception amongst both international and Pakistani opinion, shows that Pakistan has become the land through the looking-glass. To show just how much is the case, one just need learn that Bhutto is under indictment from the Swiss government for corruption. Reflect for a moment on the wide variety of sleaze-bags and scoundrels that the Swiss have had no problem with in the past. You have to be a thief of the most nefarious variety for the Swiss government to say thanks but no thanks. And yet somehow, in Pakistan, such a thief is regarded as the great white hope of democracy.
Where did all this money come from, Mr. Sese-Seko? Ah, we don't care, we're the Swiss! Remember, we took the Nazis money! The Nazis!
President Musharraf likes to employ the ruse that only he, as a military man, can effectively prosecute the war on terror to the United States' liking. Events of the last six years have proven this to be false. Musharraf has little control over the intelligence services, the ISI, that is in charge of domestic security. He has never had control over the ISI, which has a history of autonomy dating well back into the seventies (Steve Coll's Pulitzer Prize-winning Ghost Wars is a devastating account of the ISI's independent dealings with Islamist terrorists in the eighties). Musharraf's delusional claims aside, Bhutto offers no better prospect of combating terrorism than the current president; the ISI is too intertwined with terrorist groups for them to ever launch anything more than a half-hearted campaign.
The United States tried to co-opt moderates in Pakistan. Unfortunately, the large segments of Pakistani society that can be called moderate (and it does exist) are poorly served by corrupt and mendacious leaders. Those leaders are ill-served by identifying with an increasingly unpopular United States. We've seen all of America's good intentions unravel, and its time to pull-back. India is the biggest democracy in the world, and the key cog in keeping China in its place, as well. Roughly the same number of Muslims live in India as Pakistan (each about 140 million), with the added benefit of being able to say that no Indian has ever invaded an American embassy, which cannot be said about Pakistanis. India has a rising standard of living, with millions of people gaining disposable income by the minute. India has nicer beaches. The United States should stop pretending to be an impartial observer in the sub-continent and throw its hat in with India.
White sand and clear water: India
Rocky shores and thousands of people pulling a derelict oil-tanker on the beach to be dismantled: Pakistan
1 comments:
This post is riddled with factual errors! A cursory glance at the CIA world factbook will tell you that Pakistan's population is in fact three billion, and is the most populous country in the world. And best.
Secondly, it is not to India's northeast. It is to its northwest, and every other direction, because Pakistan is everywhere, and all-powerful.
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