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May 3, 2011

God Have Mercy on Pakistan

Like many I won't ever forget the feeling I had on 9/11 when I watched with horror the events unfolding in New York.  I remember saying to myself, "God have mercy on the souls who did this, because America won't."

For almost ten years we have put up with Pakistan's double game, our leaders have relentlessly professed that Pakistan was our ally in the war on terrorism.  We have and continue to give Pakistan over a billion dollars a year in economic and military aid, much of it frittered away.  American taxpayer money, meant to be used to fight Al Qaeda has been diverted to help finance weapons systems meant to counter India while Pakistan has along along been providing not only a safe haven for Al Qaeda's mid-level leaders, but for Osama Bin Laden himself.

Today while they are burning the American flag and honoring the martyr Osama Bin Laden on the streets in Pakistan, much of our media in the west and in America seem to find themselves trapped in a perpetual state of denial asking childlike naive questions such as "Was Bin Laden a Guest of Pakistan" or "How could Pakistan not know Bin Laden was hiding there?"  The Telegraph asks who's side was Pakistan on in this shootout?   As if it wasn't so painfully obvious.

Our diplomats and military leaders have been aware of Pakistan's duplicity, but each time  in the past when we questioned Pakistan on the evidence,  we have received denials or in some cases actual threats as you will see in the link below.

Where is the resolve that our nation had back in 2001 when our president clearly stated  - "...From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime."   Michael Crowley thinks that we should just suck it up and regard Pakistan not as a hostile regime but as  a "troublemaking dependent son" alluding that we should continue to provide financial and military aid to a nuclear-armed Pakistan fearful of what they might do next.

It is our lack of resolve that breeds terrorism and if we give a pass to Pakistan we will have to give a pass to every other nation that continues to harbor and support terrorism.  Worse we will have disgraced the memory not only of those who died on 9/11 but of all those since who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the war on terrorism.

To paraphrase Churchill,  a nation does what it must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality.  The more things change, the more they remain the same.

God have mercy on Pakistan, because I won't.





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