Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: James C. Bennett

The bottom line for Pakistan is that it is a cancerous tumor, yet one we have no choice but to deal with. This is why:

1) They are not a unified country, but a collection of enclaves dominated by factions. The government, whoever it is, is just the largest minority organization that wants political power. In no way does it have real control over most of the country.

2) Their population is approaching 200 million and they have nuclear weapons.

3) The vast majority of Sunni Muslim clergy in the world are trained in radical Wahhabi madrassas (schools) in Pakistan, then they disperse all over the world. Much or even most of the funding for these schools comes from Saudi Arabia. No matter how moderate the mosque, they will likely get a radical Imam as the only game in town.

4) When the military tried to run Pakistan, the US saw it as an opportunity to unify the place and put it under a far more orderly central government, under Musharraf. To his credit, he went about as far and as fast as he could go to achieve these ends. He purged the military and the secret police, the ISI, of a *lot*, if not all, of the insiders who were actively helping the al-Qaeda and Taliban fight the US.

However, he finally reached the point where he could do no more, but by staying president, he would make things worse, so he very wisely left office and the country.

5) The US did “carrot and stick” Pakistan a lot, but today, US aid is little more than chemotherapy to help keep Pakistan from metastasizing, because if it does, it will cost us far more treasure and blood to get it tamped down again.


8 posted on 04/22/2013 12:02:04 PM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy (Best WoT news at rantburg.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]


To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

Great analysis. You did however leave out another dimension to the Pakistan conundrum: its visceral ties with China, which leverages Pakistan as part of China’s rivalries with India and Russia.


9 posted on 04/22/2013 12:42:54 PM PDT by kenavi ("Beware of rulers, for they befriend only for their own benefit." Gamliel)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson