Time to call Pakistan what it is a state supporter of terrorism
Here in the West, the killing of Osama Bin Laden was considered a triumph. In Pakistan, where the al-Qaeda leader lived out his final years, attitudes are very different: On Wednesday, a Pakistani court brought down a guilty verdict against the Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA locate bin Laden in May, 2011. Having been convicted of treason, Shakil Afridi now faces a 33-year prison sentence.
Each story like this brings fresh evidence that Pakistan, a nominal Western ally in the war on terrorism, actually is doing more to enable the jihadis than fight them. We dont yet have definitive evidence to suggest that the Pakistani military and intelligence establishment was actively housing and protecting bin Laden in the garrison town of Abbottabad. But that certainly would have been in keeping with long-standing Pakistani policies.http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/...-of-terrorism/This is not a new idea: It goes back almost 20 years. As former U.S. diplomat Peter Tomsen recently noted in an insightful essay published by the World Policy Institute, George H.W. Bush-era Secretary of State James Baker wrote a letter to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1993, warning him that Pakistan could soon be put on Americas list of terror-sponsoring nations. But the threat proved hollow.
in general I agree with your premis. The situation is multi-layered and complex. Elements within the Pakistani regime do want to collaborate with the West. However, as the cited articles point out, they are not the dominant current within Pakistan.
Very sad really. Pakistan is verging on being a failed state, albeit, one with nuclear weapons. Not a happy thought....
Marsh
nobody in Pakistan wants to collaborate with the west.Pakistan has been an extremist state from the time of it's inception.They have only used the west for their purpose.Originally Posted by Marsh
I hope they manage to do a deal with Pakistan and get him released. He desrves much better than this for his role in helping to bring justice to Bin Laden.
x2
Honestly, I am surprised he hasn't been extracted in time before the Pakistanis got their hands on him. Well, maybe there weren't enough time, but it still sucks. One of the most important men in this decade, and he's about to rot in a Pakistani prison.
I'll be suprised, very suprised if he survives his sentence, unless he spends it entirely in solitary. He should have been extracted IMHO, but that's often easier said than done.
I read about the prison sentence for that doctor. ABsolutely crazy, its like US (and rest of the world) and Pakistan live on 2 different planets.
also 1 thing to note about that doctor, he was working under a fake vaccination program to document DNA evidence of bin Laden's family. While the operation killed the terror chief, it caused a lot of blowback in terms of actual benevolent humanitarian works in the region, particularly bona fide vaccination programs. Considering the extent of conspiracy mongering in that country, any real vaccination program will be seen as a default CIA snoop operation.
I cant criticize the mission planners for doing this, I dont have the relevant information, but one fallout from the bin Laden raid will be resistance to any western-sponsored humanitarian works.
How terribly sad.
Even before the raid, many mullahs (not just in Pakistan) often called vaccination programs the juice conspiracy to render their next generation sterile.
State sponsor of what? you don't say. Iran must be feeling really aggrieved. They are the diplomatic whipping boy while Pakistan gets money from us for being bad...not to mention all those nukes we let them build. Pakistan is basket case for real.
The same way as the West uses certain states for their own purposes..........states which provide far more support to terrorists who launch activities against our allies.
We are all guilty of it.
Matters not. This case stands on its own and as an example of the deep dichotomy that is the Pakistani government. There are some good elements in there but there are more counter-productive elements. The Pakis try to appease our needs and at the same time need to cater to the idiot Allah Snackbar masses. I think that in the end the Snackbars will win and dominate that country just like they will Afghanistan. Maybe it's a good thing....at least we'll know where they actually stand for once.
I think they should raid, utterly wasting anything that gets in the way, and pull this guy out. Send a message.
Always knew this .. nothing new to me .
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