Pakistan a Mortal Threat to US
“Pakistan poses a mortal threat to the security and safety of our country and the world,” Clinton said. “And I want to take this occasion … state unequivocally that not only do the Pakistani government officials, but the Pakistani people and the Pakistani diaspora … need to speak out forcefully against a policy that is ceding more and more territory to the insurgents …”
This was Hillary Clinton’s statement at a Congressional hearing on US foreign policy priorities today. This was a statement that I have been waiting for. I can totally relate to the frustration that this statement of Ms. Clinton so clearly shows.
For last year or so, I have been saying that things can only get dire for Pakistan. Not better. Most Pakistanis have disagreed with me. Even today, on CNN, the Pakistani Ambassador showed that same bravado in an interview with Wolfe Blitzer.
When I was listening to it, I couldn’t help feeling the frustration even more. Can’t this guy just get it? He kept talking of how big the Pakistani Army was and what the issues were in dealing with Taliban and how many different types of people they were dealing with and what help Pakistan had offered in the War on Terror. But he never got the point – Pakistan’s Existence is in grave danger!
We all know that if Pakistani Army wants it can blow away the entire Tehreek-e-Taliban out of Swat in a few hours. The fact is that the Government still did a deal. The reason why Pakistan’s existence is in danger is because it could have defeated those Talibanis instead of ceding territory to them.. but it did not.. or more importantly COULD NOT!
I am more convinced by the day that we are looking directly at a catastrophe in the eye. Not because Pakistan Army cannot beat the Taliban. But because the entire debate is screwed up. You cannot fight someone if you don’t know he is your enemy.
And really speaking, the enemy is not Taliban or Al Qaeda or even Mehsud for Pakistan. It is its own intolerance which is symbolized by its Army and ISI. If they cannot figure that out.. how can they fight? The intolerance of Taliban is an offshoot of the intolerance that it was indoctrinated with by ISI. It is the same intolerance that people like Zaid Hamid demonstrate every day on mainstream media in Pakistan and whom the entire youth of current day Pakistan seems to be eulogizing!
The fact is that the main propelling force in Pakistan today – the energy that keeps its people going and makes them happy – is Intolerant hatred. It does not matter who or what the target or even the conduit to that target is – it could be Musharraf, or Zardari, or Mehsud, or Laden, or US, or India (Hindus) or Israel (Jews). The truth is no one is standing up and saying – “Guys, wait a minute, the enemy is our own mind!”.
The sentiment I am referring to is clearly evident in the ad nauseum repitition of the many controversy theories by ordinary Pakistanis that are aired by likes of Zaid Zaman Hamid. That truth or critical outlook has no oxygen to live on and controversies-malafide-untruths are the main propellers of the current day minds is a clear indication of where the society is headed.
In Sanskrit there is a phrase – “Vinash-kalya Vipreet Buddhi”. (When the bad time comes, then the intellect turns against you.) Buddhi or intellect is the intrument that in Vedanta, is believed to be used for discrimination. Discrimination, not between “Good” and “Bad” but between Truth and otherwise. When you start believing Untruth to be Truth and go along it as though it was the divine provenance, then the destruction (or negative existence) is assured.