I was going to start this article with the words: no one could be happier than me about the death of Osama Bin Laden. But in reflection I realized that there are thousands who have lost loved ones to the acts of Bin Laden that have received a modicum of personal justice I cannot even begin to grasp.
So, where was I going with the article? In the midst of elation over Bin Laden’s demise, I can’t help but feel a strong sense of betrayal from the Pakistanis. Bin Laden’s compound was located just 38 miles from the capital of Pakistan. It’s tantamount to Bin Laden building a mansion in Baltimore and no one in Washington being aware. But it goes farther: Bin Laden’s compound wasn’t your average Abbottabad domicile. The grounds were surrounded by an 18 foot fence topped with barbed wire. The main building has a 7 foot privacy wall on the top floor, clearly indicating that someone inside did not want to be seen, or worse, targeted by a sniper. It’s located just 1,000 yards from the Pakistan equivalent of West Point. The estimated value of the property is in excess of a million dollars in a country ravaged by poverty. The area it is located in is known as a place where military retirees in Pakistan choose to locate. Numerous U.S. representatives, military and state department, have gone to this Pakistan military school over the past decade, never knowing they were a stone’s throw from the number one target on our terrorist list.
Can you imagine that the Pakistan government was unaware? It seems inconceivable. One or all three of the primary components of the Pakistan government had to know about this compound. If not the executive branch, then the military certainly knew. The Pakistan intelligence community, a respected organization, the ISI, knows everything going on in the country, let alone in a suburb of the capital. The ISI has had long-known connections with the Taliban, as does all of the Pakistan government.
Our own government has said that Pakistan is key to our global efforts against terrorism. Perhaps that’s true. Does that excuse the fact they were clearly shielding Bin Laden? Is the Pakistan government playing both sides of the war on terrorism? Clearly. Who else is the Pakistan government protecting? Could the war on terrorism be much farther down the road had the Pakistan government being playing straight with us?
We’re providing about $3 billion dollars of foreign aid to Pakistan each year. We’re told that this money is being spent to help prop up the Pakistan government against internal strife, to assist in anti-terrorism efforts and help secure their nuclear arsenal. If they’re only providing half-measures in our war against radical Islam, can we ever be sure their nuclear weapons are safe? If their government is protecting terrorists to stay in power, how are they any better than the Taliban? Exactly what are we getting for our $3 billion dollars?
In a tweet today I posed the following assessment: $3 billion dollars doesn’t buy you friendship, only cooperation when convenient. Pakistan’s involvement in the protection of terrorists proves they are no friends of the U.S. A friend is a friend not because of a check we write, but because we share common interests. Pakistan’s interest is Pakistan and only Pakistan; that’s enough of a reason to cut off their aid immediately.
Bin Laden is a hero to many in Pakistan. They demonstrated that by holding rallies in favor of Bin Laden after his death. Numerous interviews with Pakistanis the past two days show that the majority are angered by America’s actions and that they don’t believe Bin Laden was evil or responsible for 911. Why, given these sentiments, should we expect that our money will do anything other than line the pockets of corrupt politicians, military officers or intelligence officials?
If our $3 billion dollars trickled down to some commander in the military as a few hundred dollars a month, and the Taliban and Al Qaida were putting up a couple thousand to the same officer to look the other way, you can be damn sure they’d keep that revenue stream intact. That part of the world isn’t known for a strong sense of morality; it’s all about money. In Afghanistan, despite our attempts to pay off Poppy farmers to have them grow something that doesn’t show up in New York as high-grade Heroin, the fields of western Afghanistan today are as common today as they were 10 years ago. It’s all about the money. Face it.
Today the Pakistan government holds one of the top high-interest targets from our terrorist list and will not even allow our intelligence officials speak with him. The man responsible for selling nuclear secrets to North Korea, Qadeer Khan, who should be in prison for life, lives a life of privilege under house arrest. Mullah Omar, head of the Taliban, freely moves about Pakistan, while targeting American soldiers in Afghanistan. Ex-President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, had the gall to state yesterday that the U.S. operation to capture or kill Bin Laden was a direct attack on Pakistani sovereignty.
Facts are facts. The $3 billion we give Pakistan is nothing more than bribery. We’re paying them off to keep them from handing over nuclear weapons to terrorists. Rather than taking a neutral stance on the decades-old tensions between India and Pakistan, we should realize that India is a friend and Pakistan is not.
[widgets_on_pages id="Underpost"]