For Proud Indian

Submitted by Straight_Talk_Luigi (United States), Jun 28, 2008 at 23:45

Sir,

Your frustrations with the relations between our great nations is noted. I can understand how you feel. Unfortunately, we are going to have to keep a close watch on Pakistan no matter what from now on unless by some miracle they get rid of their nukes.

Of course, they won't, because India has them as well.

It would be ideal if Pakistan would just scrap their nukes, like the former Soviet Republics. They just don't want to have to deal with such awesome responsibility.

It sounds crazy to the people of Pakistan, but India isn't run by a bunch of fanatics either and I would guess they would never use nuclear weapons until at the utmost need.

Normally, I would say India, the USA and Russia ought to take a leading in this and lead by example, but of course the radical Pakistanis would see it as "Allah's will".

Mushraff and the USA became friends almost overnight from 9-11 to 9-12. I could literally feel the tension after 9-11 as if the world was shaking waiting for the US to strike back. Pakistan very quickly abandoned the Taliban, and I think they were shocked that the Taliban would allow al queida to do something so stupid as to attack the USA. I would bet if they knew it in advance, their relations would have been more distant.

India's contributions to the war on terror are clearly overlooked. Your nation helped us locate training camps. It would be shameful of Pakistan to use anti-terror aid against India, and the USA must stipulate that it never be used for such a shameful purpose.

For one thing, the Taliban are toying with their army, and were I Mushraff, I would be embarrassed. I know that in the Soviet-Afghan conflict, the Pakistani soldiers were cruel to the fleeing Afghans.

You've also talked about the resolve of Pakistan in fighting the Taliban. Well, unfortunately, it goes both ways. Leftist bureaucrats in Europe seem to think they can with this war behind the EU Pariliment walls and are scared to death of having casulties. They aren't letting the soldiers do their job.

The Democrats in America always talk about finding bin-laded, yet they also tout the Iraq War (even if they voted for it). That is a double standard, because were we to invade Pakistan, like Barack Obama suggested earlier, it would be an act of war.

Then, they talk about sending the soldiers in Iraq to Afghanistan. It's not their isn't enough soldiers there, it's just that they don't do any fighting!

This is why the Taliban are regrouping, not because the USA bulk is in Iraq. The people who are serving in Iraq (a flat desert) wouldn't do much good in the mountains.

So, what can we do?

First of all, Mr. Obama is right. If Pakistan cannot use it's billions of dollars in aid to fight the Talban in Quetta and Waziristan, then it's time for them to let someone else do it.

Hamid Karzai's frustrations are understandable, and he knows that we can't win if we don't attack the strongholds. They'll just keep getting Pakistani recruits, and we know there's no shortage of those. The cities along the Afghan border, especially Quetta, must be secured, whether they are in Pakistan or not.

Of course, knowing the minds of some Western liberal politicians, it may take a few terror attacks in the West for them to realize that.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".