Christopher Hitchens Comments On The U.S. - Pakistan Alliance

U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, meets with Pakistani Gen. Khalid Shameem Wynne, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, April 20, 2011. DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley

From Abbottabad To Worse -- Christopher Hitchens, Vanity Fair

Hating the United States—which funds Islamabad’s army and nuclear program to the humiliating tune of $3 billion a year—Pakistan takes its twisted, cowardly revenge by harboring the likes of the late Osama bin Laden. But the hypocrisy is mutual, and the shame should be shared.

Salman Rushdie’s upsettingly brilliant psycho-profile of Pakistan, in his 1983 novel, Shame, rightly laid emphasis on the crucial part played by sexual repression in the Islamic republic. And that was before the Talibanization of Afghanistan, and of much of Pakistan, too. Let me try to summarize and update the situation like this: Here is a society where rape is not a crime. It is a punishment. Women can be sentenced to be raped, by tribal and religious kangaroo courts, if even a rumor of their immodesty brings shame on their menfolk. In such an obscenely distorted context, the counterpart term to shame—which is the noble word “honor”—becomes most commonly associated with the word “killing.” Moral courage consists of the willingness to butcher your own daughter.

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My Comment: Love him or hate him, Christopher Hitchens is always a must read for commentary and discussion. He does not disappoint in this post.

As U.S. - Pakistan Relations Deteriate, Only Al Qaeda Will Benefit

Forward Operating Base Bostick - the most northern U.S. military base in Afghanistan. The Swat Valley of Pakistan is directly across the mountains. Larry Towell / MagnumLarry Towell

Pakistan Plays Hardball -- Newsweek

Relations with Washington are on the skids. But if the alliance really goes south, only Al Qaeda wins.

Tensions between Islamabad and Washington have reached a fever pitch in recent months. As President Obama plans a visit for later this year to the world’s second-most-populous Muslim country, the White House wants above all else to fight Al Qaeda and wage its war in Afghanistan. Islamabad has something else in mind.

In January, the war strategy Obama announced more than two years ago was abruptly put in cold storage. After the American contractor Raymond Davis killed two Pakistanis on a street in Lahore and was then released in March after $2.3 million in compensation (so-called blood money) was paid to the victims’ families, the Pakistani public was more roiled than it has been in recent memory.

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My Comment: Speaking personally, years ago when I was doing international trade, doing business with businessmen and traders from Pakistan was always a long and arduous exercise .... so much to the point that a long time ago I made the decision to cross them out from doing any business with. With such an experience, I can only imagine how they operate in the political/diplomatic arena, especially since they now have been brainwashed that the U.S. owes them for all the sacrifices that they have bared in fighting the Taliban.

With such a mindset and culture, this ... in every way .... has become a lose-lose situation for us, the Afghans, and in the end .... the Pakistanis themselves. But I know that in today's world 99% of Pakistan do not see it that way .... that the U.S. and the West are exploiting them .... and that they do not respect Pakistani sovereignty. Sighhh .... the people in Pakistan have lost sight on who the real enemy is .... and in the end .... it is true .... only Al Qaeda will benefit from this infighting.

Just Walk Away: Time To Dump Pakistan -- A Commentary

Photo: Zardari: India could quickly concentrate his mind.

From The New York Post:

WHAT Washington calls "strategy" is usually just inertia: We can't imagine not supporting Pakistan because we've "always" supported Pakistan.

No matter how shamelessly Pakistan's leaders looted their own country, protected the Taliban, sponsored terror attacks on India, demanded aid and told us to kiss off when we asked for help, we had to back the Paks.

Because that's just the way things are.

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