Pakistan and Bush: Bad Business As Usual
Musharraf either had Bush by the nose, playing him brilliantly, or found in Bush a kindred scamp: both men's strongest suit was deception, including self-deception. They would not have gotten far without either. In their parallel years, the Taliban regrouped in Pakistan's Tribal Areas, and with it, al-Qaeda's capabilities. Osama bin Laden was never caught. Afghanistan reverted to chaos. Pakistan's intelligence services were as entangled with the country's Islamists as ever.
Benazir Bhutto, before her assassination, was promising great changes. What Pakistan got, once Musharraf finally stepped down (to avoid impeachment), was Bhutto's widow, the eminently corrupt and unimaginative Asif Ali Zardari, who today sat and grinned for the papers back home, shaking hands with Mr. Bush at the United Nations before Bush made this equally unimaginative statement:
Pakistan is an ally, and I look forward to deepening our relationship. We'll be discussing, of course, how to help spread prosperity. We want our friends around the world to be making a good living. We want there to be economic prosperity and we can work together, and of course we'll be talking about security. And your words have been very strong about Pakistan's sovereign right and sovereign duty to protect your country, and the United States wants to help.Never mind that the United States is in no position to be talking about spreading prosperity abroad, or that Zardari has no idea how to bring security to his country, as the weekend's terrorist bomb in Islamabad, meant for Zardari, reminded everyone.
Put simply, Pakistan and the United States are both once again on the defensive in the so-called war on terror. The Taliban and al-Qaeda have the upper hand in Pakistan's tribal areas, they are setting the battleground's agenda in Afghanistan, they're setting off bombs at will elsewhere (the American Embassy in Yemen earlier last week had its defenses very nearly breached by militants) yet here's a lame-duck Bush grinning away with the merely lame Zardari. Neither man's reign can end soon enough.
Comments
Stop blaming Pakistan of your own ills. If US leave this region PEACE will prevail.
USA left Afghanistan for Iraq
Iraq had no WMD
Iraq had no connection with 9-11
USA allowed Al-Qaeda to regroup same to Talibans
Now USA spent Billions of dollars and 5 years in Iraq to lose the war.
USA wants Pakistan to do the same job for 10 Billion dollars and before the 2008 Elections?
Pakistan has been betrayed by USA since Nixon times.
Kissinger writes how “boyishly ecstatic” General Yahya Khan was at having pulled off the secret operation. He had personally reviewed each detail of the clandestine departure and arrival and put the full facilities of the Pakistan government at Kissinger’s disposal. He asked nothing in return, contrary to media claims at the time; “he performed a great service for our country and it must be recorded that he dealt with us honourably.” Nixon thereafter “adopted a somewhat warmer tone toward Pakistan. He and I were profoundly grateful for Pakistan’s role as the channel to China. It was a service for which Pakistan’s leaders, to their lasting honour, never sought any reciprocity or special consideration.” But then “our relations with Pakistan were marked by a superficial friendliness that had little concrete content.”
Then Pakistan gave full support to USA when Russia screwed up Afghanistan.
After 9-11 Pakistan gave full support to USA for the war on terror.
USA screwed up by creating Mujahdeen with the help of Pakistan then left them in a mess leaving all the headaches for Pakistan. If USA can make many mistakes along the way may be Pakistan made some mistakes too but Pakistan has always supported USA. USA should treat Pakistan like USA treats Israel.