Pakistan Is Not America's Enemy - WSJ

[CardSharp]

Pakistan is practically bending over backwards to accommodate US's so-called WoT, at severe cost to itself, yet they still have the galls to suggest thinking of Pakistan as an 'enemy'.

They are just frustrated, the average American doesn't deal well with situation requiring nuisance and patience. They see the Taliban in Pakistan and their first thought is to "git 'em" without thinking about consequences.

 

[Tuahaa]

With how they deal with affairs these days, I wouldn't believe this guy...

 

[r3alist]

They are just frustrated, the average American doesn't deal well with situation requiring nuisance and patience. They see the Taliban in Pakistan and their first thought is to "git 'em" without thinking about consequences.

americans i am sure get frustrated with the british, the germans and the french - but are they considered anything other than allies?


lets get to the crux of it - pakistan is an ally of china, and an enemy of india - therefore the US has ZERO interest in doing whats good for pakistan because is not considered in the "in camp" if we are looking 50 years down the line


this is how pakistani's need to think - 50 years ahead what do they want?

 

[Khan_patriot]

Pakistan may not be America's enemy but America seems to be Pakistan's enemy........

 

[muse]

Never in Pakistan's six decades of existence has the U.S. sustained a long-term, strategic commitment in the country.

Why are Pakistan owed a sustained long term strategic commitment by the US?

Fact of the matter is the US owes nothing to Pakistan and Pakistan owes the US nothing -- We just must stop lying to each other, lies about being allies for a starter, lies that the Us effort in Afghanistan will collapse with out Pakistan, That Pakistan will sink without US aid to Pakistani NGO's -- lets be honest with each other, the US and Pakistan are on divergent trajectories, not just in Afghanistan, but in the entirety of Asia, and I think, this divergence will develop into a global aspect, nothing Pakistan can do, short of existing, can stop this.

And so lets prepare - a whole lot of hand wringing about the carrots and sticks Kerry is coming with -- But I really do not understand why? Were we not living without the US as a Aid donor before 2001?

Whatever the path of the, Pakistan needs a fundamental change in the way it organizes itself and it's economy, in it's present form, it's a danger to it's own citizens and to "others" who may not be as lax as Pakistanis about their safety and their obligations to their own citizens.

 

[S-2]

There's some truth in your comments. I'm not sure we owe each other anything. In reality, there are very, very few nations with whom America has had a long-term strategic relationship-Canada, Great Britain and Australia are foremost.

Probably Israel since the late 60s. Maybe Japan still. Perhaps S. Korea. Virtually nobody else in Europe. I doubt our relationship with India will ever truly be strategic or "all-weather".

Few other nations retain the same habitual allegiances to one another. China and Pakistan might come to mind but I really wonder if the firmness of that relationship has yet been tested.

All that said, America and Pakistan don't necessarily have to travel divergent trajectories either. I don't see straight though divergent lines. Instead, I see a common general pathway with moments in time where we close and then drift away as necessary by nat'l interests.

Only nations absolutely bent upon war with one another follow absolutely divergent paths and there isn't a single major state to which I'd ascribe that trajectory with certainty-not even India and Pakistan.

The real issue for America-and it exists for America's relationships with any evolving state, is with whom to have a relationship and when. You point out issues here-

"...Pakistan needs a fundamental change in the way it organizes itself and it's economy, in it's present form, it's a danger to it's own citizens and to 'others'".

Should we wait for Pakistan to discover its identity? Should we "help"? What's "help" anyway? Money spent hasn't proved the solution beyond temporal bandaids of dubious worth.

I'd submit that Pakistan must struggle with itself to survive or dissolve as a nation. It's not guaranteed. I don't believe America was "guaranteed" until the American civil war resolved forever otherwise irresolvable contradictions of purpose. I don't suggest that Pakistan must engage in a physical civil war but, minimally, a profound nat'l dialogue of absolute honesty is likely required.

Even finding those to lead that dialogue may prove a challenging task. That traces to leadership and is quite probably one of the issues faced by your nation-how to grow leaders that represent the divergent strands of all elements in society and providing them with an environment fostering meaningful exchange that benefits the entire polity.

Enough prattle but some really thought-provoking comments by you IMV.

 

[pakdefender]

There's some truth in your comments. I'm not sure we owe each other anything. In reality, there are very, very few nations with whom America has had a long-term strategic relationship-Canada, Great Britain and Australia are foremost.

The Anglo-Saxon cabal - corrupting the world since time immemorial