Our Friends in Pakistan...?

Ever since the 9/11 attacks, Pakistan has been one of our allies in the "War on Terrorism". We have been told repeatedly that their assistance in Afghanistan has been of major importance. As a result we have poured billions of dollars of foreign aid into their coffers. And right from the very beginning my friends who have served over there have told me one horror story after another about their backstabbing and double dealing. 

But you know that already. There has not been a month that has gone by that the news media has not told us about Americans killed or kidnaped, Christian churches burned and Christians murdered, vital supply lines shut down and supply convoys stopped and allowed to be attacked by Al Qeada and/or Taliban militants. In Afghanistan our military has complained right from the very start that insurgents were being allowed refuge and safe haven across the Pakistan border. That is without even mentioning the fact that Osama Bin Laden apparently lived right in the middle of several major military facilities for years while the Pakistan government and military claimed they had no idea where he was and thought he was probably not in Pakistan at all.

Now I see where our military negotiators have given up, at least temporarily, trying to come to an agreement to reopen the supply lines through Pakistan. It seems our good buddies now want $5000 per truck to allow them across the border.

I don't know about you, but I for one am really fed up with Pakistan. They have cost us billions of dollars and, more importantly, American lives. They are not our friends and they never have been. Oh, I know,"we need them to fight Al-Qaeda and the Taliban" -and "they have a nuclear arsenal that we can not allow to fall into the hands of radical Islamists". I hear those arguments every time the subject comes up. Well, bullshit. Who needs their kind of help? The border has been closed to our trucks for months now and we seem to be making do. Al Qaeda is on the run, no thanks to the Pakistanis, and as for the nuclear arsenal, I can think of several ways of keep that out of terrorist hands without spending one dollar in foreign aid.

There are several things we can do right now to fix this problem. The first is something I was glad to see the Administration has finally figured out. Strengthen our alliance with India (a country who has always been a true ally of ours). Pakistan hates India and the last thing they want is for us to have good ties with India and for India to have strong influence in Afghanistan.

As for stopping our supply trucks, here's an idea: Start taking $5000 out of any Foreign aid going to Pakistan for every truck they do not allow through their check points -and for every day that truck is kept from delivering it's load. Additionally, for every truck that is stopped at a border crossing and is attacked and destroyed while sitting there, deduct the cost of the trunk and it's cargo plus compensation for any drivers or crews killed or injured.

What ever we do, we can not go on pretending that these guys are our friends and allies, nor that their supposed help is essential to our fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.  We need to spend more time looking after the welfare and safety of our troops and citizens and less time worrying about not offending a country that really does not like us very much -but does care about getting as many American dollars as possible.

Live Long and Prosper....