Time to Admit the Realities of Pakistan

For as long as the United States has been fighting the “War on Terror” the nation of Pakistan has pledged its alliance. Throughout the tenure of Pervez Musharraf's administration and during the prospect of a Benazir Bhutto government, those in control of the Pakistani message have openly pledged their support to the US-led effort in the conflict with radical Islamist aggression. Today, President Asif Ali Zardari continues that line of rhetoric in the face of an explosion of radical Islamist influence within his country. But reality often betrays rhetoric and as we continue in this global, generational and ideological conflict we in the West would be wise to reevaluate the actions of Pakistan in the face of their pledges of alliance.

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In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States by al Qaeda, the Bush Administration had to make some hard choices with regard to Middle Eastern and Asian relations, especially where the initiation of the military retaliation was concerned. Having benefited strategically from observing the Soviet-Afghan Conflict of the 1980s, the Bush Administration knew that defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan would require a working relationship with Pakistan if, for no other reason, to secure the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The Bush Administration wisely set out to avoid the strategic error committed by the Soviets of allowing the Mujahideen the ability to retreat into the FATA only to reemerge once the superior Soviet military had receded from their offensive. Additionally, the Bush Administration understood full well the difficulty of supplying US military operations in Afghanistan without the cooperation of the Pakistani government. As the argument continues on whether or not then Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage actually told then Pakistani President Musharraf that unless he sided with the United States his country would be “bombed back to the Stone Age,” one thing is abundantly clear, Pakistan was not an enthusiastic volunteer in forging the US-Pakistani anti-jihadist alliance. In fact, as is the status quo for most cooperative measures between two or more parties in Pakistan, Musharraf had to be financially enticed to join the United States and the Coalition of the Willing. More...