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<p id="BlogDate">Invading Pakistan<br>
Posted By <u>Justin Raimondo</u> <br>
On September 30, 2010<u><a
href="http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2010/09/30/invading-pakistan/print/#comments_controls"><br>
</a></u></p>
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<p>"We will have to see whether we are allies or enemies," <a
href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11441279">said</a>
Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik after a US/NATO manned
air strike took out three Pakistani soldiers and wounded three
others. If it isn’t clear to the Pakistani minister, it is
crystal clear to the people of Pakistan, who <a
href="http://siyasipakistan.wordpress.com/2010/09/28/north-waziristan-residents-live-in-constant-fear-21-us-drone-attacks-launched-this-month/">live
in fear</a> of constant US drone attacks – and, now, open
violations of their country’s sovereignty. Anti-American
sentiment is at an all-time high, and the increasingly <a
href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a5N.x3Ni3wRs">fragile</a>
government – which hangs by a <a
href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/8035000/Gen-Musharraf-warns-of-Pakistan-coup-after-crisis-meeting-in-London.html">very
thin</a> thread – is being rapidly undermined by US actions. </p>
<p>The attack <a
href="http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010%5C10%5C01%5Cstory_1-10-2010_pg1_1">was
launched "in self-defense,"</a> according to the US military,
but the Pakistanis weren’t appeased: they promptly <a
href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/30/1851036/pakistan-closes-critical-border.html">cut
off</a> a vital supply route into Afghanistan. Slowly, but
surely, the Obama administration is keeping one of the
President’s more <a
href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0132206420070801">ominous</a>
campaign promises – that he would invade Pakistan, if necessary,
to "win" the war in Afghanistan. <a
href="http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2008/02/20/4438617-mccain-paints-obama-as-too-hawkish">Even
John McCain</a> found this a scary prospect, and denounced it
as "dangerous" – and yet we hear nary a peep from the
Democratic-controlled Congress, nor are any Republicans,
including McCain, raising objections. </p>
<p>Yet this move toward an open confrontation with our Pakistani
"allies" may be the most momentous development to date in our
seemingly endless "war on terrorism," one that will plunge the
entire region into a conflagration we can barely imagine. Today
it is <a
href="http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/09/new-poll-pakistanis-hate-the-drones-back-suicide-attacks-on-u-s-troops/">drone
strikes</a>, and occasional NATO manned incursions: tomorrow
our armies will be <a
href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:LSq4B9dSUksJ:sec.wltx.com/quote/038F7Ck9tHc7l+%22top+mission%22+%22secure+Pakistan%E2%80%99s+nukes%22&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us">marching
on Islamabad</a>, trying to unseat Islamic "radicals" on the
verge of taking over the country.</p>
<p>Nuclear-armed Pakistan is the prize Osama bin Laden and his
cohorts have to win in order to strike a major blow at the US –
and we are doing our best to deliver it to him, gift-wrapped.
The raids that resulted in the deaths of Pakistani soldiers are
said to be somehow connected to <a
href="http://news.antiwar.com/2010/09/29/officials-issue-urgent-but-vague-terror-alert/">vague</a>
intelligence reports of a "<a
href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/british-brothers-behind-plot-to-terrorise-europe-2094515.html">Mumbai-style</a>"
attack planned for somewhere in Europe: the Eiffel Tower was <a
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/world/europe/29briefs-BOMB.html">evacuated</a>
briefly the other day, and police presence at British landmarks
and other sites in Germany was beefed up. But one wonders: if
these plans are already in the execution stage, then how would
an attack in Pakistan stop or deter them? </p>
<p>The answer is: it wouldn’t. But then again the entire <a
href="http://edition.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/09/times.square.suspect/index.html?eref=edition">rationale</a>
for occupying Afghanistan and destabilizing Pakistan – to
eliminate the possibility of attacks on the West – has never
been all that convincing. The 9/11 terrorist attacks were
launched from <a
href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2349195.stm">Hamburg</a>,
Germany, and <a
href="http://www.sptimes.com/2002/09/01/911/Florida__terror_s_lau.shtml">Hollywood</a>,
Florida, not Afghanistan or Pakistan. But then again, no one
believes anything coming out of the mouths of US officials,
including the officials themselves. </p>
<p> The Americans are constantly harping on the alleged
unwillingness of Pakistani authorities to take on the
terrorists, but in reality it is Pakistan that has <a
href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:MHa2aefD1ZMJ:chaltatv.com/view_video.php%3Fflag%3DF%26viewkey%3D477451530c4455b2a9e8+%22terrorists+arrested+in+pakistan%22&cd=9&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us">caught</a>
and neutralized more terrorists than the US and its allies
combined. However, the Obama administration facing political
pressure on the home front to "do something," and stuck in a
quagmire of its own making, needs a scapegoat – preferably a
foreign (and Islamic) one. Pakistan fits the bill. </p>
<p>It’s all about politics – shocking, isn’t it? </p>
<p>Driven by this dynamic, the US is on a course that has to end
in a much-extended war, one that will have us openly fighting in
Pakistan before too long. In which case the civilian government
is <a
href="http://news.oneindia.in/2010/09/12/sastroops-plan-to-rescue-britons-amid-pak-military-coupfea.html">likely
to fall</a> and the Pakistani military – trained and armed by
the US – will fill the vacuum. This is just what the Pakistani
branch of the Taliban wants: it gives them a clear narrative to
recite to potential recruits, who are bound to flow into their
ranks. In the wake of the worst floods in Pakistan’s long
history, which have left <a
href="http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/44274/20100819/pakistan-flood-homeless-toll-put-at-over-4-million.htm">four
million homeless</a>, and hopeless, a full-blown insurgency is
likely to spread from the tribal regions to the rest of the
country, threatening the cities – and creating an opportunity
for India to move in. </p>
<p>The Indian factor is the one big unknown is all this turmoil,
one that could play a decisive role in making a bad situation
worse. Pakistan and India have been in a state of <a
href="http://www.ericmargolis.com/political_commentaries/burning-kashmir.aspx">undeclared
war</a> since <a
href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/south_asia/2002/india_pakistan/timeline/default.stm">1947</a>,
and the rise of Hindu ultra-nationalism has exacerbated tensions
with Muslims, who have been the targets of violence by Hindu
extremists. Tensions are high right now due to the expected
court decision over who owns the land on which the <a
href="http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=288189">Ayodhya</a>
mosque once sat: Muslims want to rebuild the 16th century
structure, while extremist Hindus are opposed. The issue could
spark yet another round of ethno-religious rioting in India,
provoke more terrorist attacks in the region, and ultimately
lead to a violent clash with Pakistan over one of many
flashpoints on the long Indo-Pakistani border. </p>
<p>The very dangerous course the Obama is currently pursuing could
easily end in the world’s first <a
href="http://www.nrdc.org/nuclear/southasia.asp">nuclear
exchange</a>: Indian nukes are aimed straight at Islamabad,
just as Pakistan’s nuclear-tipped missiles are pointed at New
Delhi. </p>
<p>This grisly prospect doesn’t seem to be deterring the Obama
administration one bit: indeed, our provocations aimed at
Pakistan have only increased in recent days. Reckless is too
mild a word to employ in this regard: crazy is more like it.<br>
</p>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2010/09/30/invading-pakistan/">http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2010/09/30/invading-pakistan/</a><br>
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