Pakistan's Pledge to Help U.S. Is False

Newsday ^ | September 18, 2001 | Ray Takeyh

[GreatOne]

THE TRAGIC bombing of New York and Washington reflect continued American vulnerability even in the era of superpower dominance. As the United States crafts its coalition, President George W. Bush thanked Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's strongman, for his pledged cooperation.

Such a gesture of gratitude is not just premature but futile. The reality is that America's erstwhile Cold War ally is both ideologically and strategically invested in the vitality of Osama bin Laden's network of terror.

[madrastex]

O,Great One!Great Post! We rely on Pakistan at our peril.These guys want to run with the fox and the hounds..it don't work that way.Hope we wise up.

[reformedliberal]

Political correctness is the enemy.

We pray that Bush met with the *moderates* to give them a final chance to help. In truth, we are convinced they will betray us and we are better off not seeking alliances w/them.

[BenR2]

It is my deepest fear that Bush and Powell have gotten this off on the wrong foot by making this an "international coalition" from the get-go.

Why didn't they make this an American struggle from the get-go, and then later welcome the assistance of anybody who wanted to get on board with us?

[encm(ss)]

Regardless of their continuing alligence, we NEED information. You have to get in with the pigs to find their leaders. That's spying. That's smart. That's not PC. But that's the way it's done. Suck it up for now. We've got real leaders now.

[stabtheheartmake$$$]

Pakistan's "help" is going to cause alot of American lives to be lost. These people can't be trusted. They are not our friends, but our enemy. Bush and Powell are making a huge mistake in trusting these animals.

[OK]

So I guess this means that if the US gets a base in Pakistan, we can clean up Afghanistan and Pakistan at the same time.

[Paleo-Con]

Have you not noticed that Afghanistan is surrounded by Muslim countries? We can't even fly to Afganistan without someones' permission, we will need land bases etc. for anything more than a few long distance strikes.

This is the worst place in the world for us to get into a war. Britain and Russia learned that the hard way.

[financeprof]

It is my deepest fear that Bush and Powell have gotten this off on the wrong foot by making this an "international coalition" from the get-go.

Absolutely correct. I'd rather go into a fight alone or with one or two reliable friends than with 20 people that don't want to be there, or with one or two who want to stab me in the back. Even if no "partners" in a coalition are Trojan Horses, the coalition approach undermines unity of command (one of the maxims of war) and brings things down to the least common denominator. Napoleon rejoiced when he found his enemies had formed a "coalition" because he recognized that this coalescence of states with different interests created fault lines that he could--and did--exploit. At this time, that is a recipe for disaster. We need unity of purpose, unity of command, and the will to win. A broad coalition will give us none of these things.

[AGAviator]

Why didn't they make this an American struggle from the get-go, and then later welcome the assistance of anybody who wanted to get on board with us?

Because we don't own any real estate in the entire region, so country we occupy without their permission, we would have to invade and subjugate first.

[AGAviator]

As soon as the communist threat spreading in the region was over, the US stopped giving any aid to the Afghanis to build back their country. Once the US policy objective had been achieved, the US as always retreated back into its hole

That's 100% correct. And our economic sanctions against Pakistan have created the climate where the fanatical religious schools have thousands of recruits available.

[Aaron_A]

I think you are in the wrong forum....

A further note to my earlier reply to u.Osama Bin Laden has never been in Peshawar or in any other part of Pakistan.

"Peshawar is where bin Ladin cut his teeth in the Islamic jihad, when, in the mid-1980s, he became the financier and logistics man for the Maktab al-Khidamat, The Office of Services, an overt organization trying to recruit and aid Muslim, chiefly Arab, volunteers for the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. The friendships and associations made in The Office of Services gave birth to the clandestine al-Qa'ida, The Base, whose explicit aim is to wage a jihad against the West, especially the United States."
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2001/07/gerecht.htm

MJR	member since September 16th, 2001