Pak Probably Most Dangerous Country for World: Ex-CIA Official

[Zarvan]

WASHINGTON: Pakistan is probably the most dangerous country for the world as it is ripe with the threats of terrorism, a failing economy and the fastest growing nuclear arsenal, a retired CIA official has said.

"While Pakistan is not the most dangerous country in the world, it is probably the most dangerous country for the world, and as such, a serious case for close and continued US engagement with Pakistan can be made," Kevin Hulbert, a former top intelligence officer who retired in June 2014, wrote in an op-ed in The Cipher Brief.


"As a country ripe with the triple threat of terrorism, a failing economy, and the fastest growing nuclear arsenal, Pakistan has the potential to create more nightmare scenarios for US policymakers than any other country," said Mr Hulbert, who previously served multiple overseas tours as CIA Chief of Station and Deputy Chief of Station.

Like it or not, Pakistan is similar to a bank or company considered too big to let fail because of the ripple effect it might cause across the entire economy.

The spectre of the sixth largest country in the world being a failed state is a hypothetical catastrophe that would unleash a world of unintended consequences, he said.

"Rather than risk it, and as much as we might like to move on, we really should increase the level of engagement with Pakistan, not decrease it," he recommended.

Mr Hulbert said many of the trend lines in Pakistan now seem to be moving in the wrong direction.

For years, Pakistan felt justified in its use of jihadist militias to attack India in a war of attrition. It pursued a perverse double-dealing game where they supported 'good' radical Muslim extremists that helped them in their proxy war against India, while at the same time trying to hold the line against the 'bad' radical Muslim extremist elements who were focused on bringing down the Pakistani state, he observed.

A large percentage of the Pakistani population does not view jihadi groups, including the Taliban and other militant religious groups, as dangerous elements, but rather as good soldiers of Islam comprised of men performing their religious duty, he said.

"The fight against al-Qaeda in Pakistan was largely seen as a US fight, not a Pakistan fight, and Pakistan's unwillingness to make the hard choices required to confront the growing menace of radical extremism, created a monster," the former CIA official said.

Today, Pakistan finds itself in a very complicated security situation where there is little differentiation among radical groups, he noted.

Terrorist groups, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, are suddenly allied with al-Qaeda, while Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the Pakistan Taliban, the Afghan Taliban, and other assorted criminals and non-state actors are intent on bringing down the elected government of Pakistan.
While the Pakistan government dithered, the militancy in the country took firm hold, he said.

Story First Published: October 09, 2015 14:25 IST

Pak Probably Most Dangerous Country for World: Ex-CIA Official

 

[BABA AGHORI]

So what can amreeka do about it ??.. live with it mates...

 

[NHUDA]

May Be Mr. Hulbert Stop Following World (& Pakistan) Trends ... since he become an EX ...

MOST (in fact ALL) of his "observations" as re god 2-4 years old & he seems oblivious to significant improvements in any sector he have mentioned ..


As a country ripe with the triple threat of terrorism, ???
May be refer to Zarb-e-Azb success and how Pakistan is Not Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq where US & Nato Support doesn't bring any fruit ..

a failing economy, ????
have he Ever Heard of Bloomberg, Financial Times, IMF latest Observation ... Improving Credit Ratings of Pakistan, Long term Growth Prospects, Short Term increase Public Spending, Production and Consumption, Increasing FDI & Foreign Reserves, Incremental Increase in Foreign Remittances
(I m not saying we are Perfect & thr are no pitfalls or threats .. but the current trend is toward improvement NOT faliure ...

Ever and the fastest growing nuclear arsenal ???
Define How a Fastest & Still in 80-100 nos. of Stockpile is Dangerous than Thousands Available with USA & Russia ..
but based on every assumption followed by a Disclaimer tht Pak Nuclear Arsenal Count is very hard to estimate .. but yeah they are growing fastest ... these estimates could well be right or wrong & what makes thn NOT thing same is NOT happpening in India, Israel, NK ...(I m not Blaming India or Israel or North Korea, just to give contemporary view to the claim) .. PS: he needs to look into MORE authoritative Institution who are confident about Pakistan Top Notch Nuclear Security Detail ... (may look not far but Recent UNGA sideline meeting )

A large percentage of the Pakistani population does not view jihadi groups, including the Taliban and other militant religious groups, as dangerous elements, but rather as good soldiers of Islam comprised of men performing their religious duty, he said.
WRONG

"The fight against al-Qaeda in Pakistan was largely seen as a US fight, not a Pakistan fight, and Pakistan's unwillingness to make the hard choices required to confront the growing menace of radical extremism, created a monster," the former CIA official said.

& WRONG ...

these two "observation" or "Claims" are so much in Stark Comparision to Reality ... I won't even Spend time to Debunk them ...

I would Just Ask the Esteemed EX Official to not stop looking into global trends, once Retire ... the Ground Realities keep changing .. Doesn't come to Halt when U retire !!

 

[shah1398]

Seems the poor Ex guy is having serious financial issues. He can get a few programs on media due to this or may be nothing at all and then they call it a stay.Good short term earning move. So can we talk sense now?

 

[somebozo]

Looks like his evolution of knowledge ended with his retirement..

 

[Sinnerman108]

Mr HillBilly was giving an interview to the most "vocal" of indian media outlets
and he said exactly what they wanted to listen.

$$ with some bonus

 

[Ra'ad]

The concept of good and bad, right and wrong, is talked about so lightly in the US by almost everyone. Everybody talks of morals when considering other states. Suddenly the talk of principles and morals vanishes into thin air when the US is questioned. Then everything's allowed for the sake of 'national interest'. The US national interest far outweighs the rest of the world.

Didn't hitler do the same thing? For the sake of national interest of nazi germany, the world was made to suffer. No morals, no principles, just national interest. Now they're judged as evil. The US would, for the sake of world domination, do anything, even destroy everything outside of the US for the sake of it's so called 'national interest'.

Humanity comes first. But not for the US. The Ex officer should start by discussing all dirty covert activities that were done during his tenure against other countries. All the false flag ops, and activites to export terror, coz no other country in the world has the capability comparable to theirs when it comes to staging proxy wars, and creating militant groups to achieve political objectives. There's only one most dangerous country in the world, and everyone knows it. It is the country with a defence budget greater than the defence budgets of the next 9 countries (with highest defence budgets in descending order) combined. No more hypocrisy.

 

[somebozo]

The concept of good and bad, right and wrong, is talked about so lightly in the US by almost everyone. Everybody talks of morals when considering other states. Suddenly the talk of principles and morals vanishes into thin air when the US is questioned. Then everything's allowed for the sake of 'national interest'. The US national interest far outweighs the rest of the world.

Didn't hitler do the same thing? For the sake of national interest of nazi germany, the world was made to suffer. No morals, no principles, just national interest. Now they're judged as evil. The US would, for the sake of world domination, do anything, even destroy everything outside of the US for the sake of it's so called 'national interest'.

Humanity comes first. But not for the US. The Ex officer should start by discussing all dirty covert activities that were done during his tenure against other countries. All the false flag ops, and activites to export terror, coz no other country in the world has the capability comparable to theirs when it comes to staging proxy wars, and creating militant groups to achieve political objectives. There's only one most dangerous country in the world, and everyone knows it. It is the country with a defence budget greater than the defence budgets of the next 9 countries (with highest defence budgets in descending
order) combined. No more hypocrisy.

Sword is mightier than pen..always..