It is such a deplorable fact
that since the time Pakistan joined the so-called American war on terror, the
people and country have paid a heavy price against any other nation in this war.
This war, that then American President George W. Bush started, is continuing
without any relent and President Obama seems totally surrounded by the hawks of
the previous US government. There are plenty of thick theses done by scores of
US scholars proving that how a war could act as an engine for the US economy but
this “established” principle seemingly is faltering with a dwindling dollar and
weaker economy that has shaken both the US and the world.
September the 11th, 2001 was indeed a deplorable incident but the spearhead of a
hyper-power instead of pondering and deliberating into its reasons, rather got
on a journey of more deaths and greater destruction. The only difference from
then and now is that the ones who are dying are not Americans but are Muslims in
Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan while other than those two tall buildings, all
the destruction has come to these three countries alone. America unlawfully
invaded Iraq and completely failed to achieve its objectives in Afghanistan and
now has developed a new expertise of blaming Pakistan for everything under the
sun. Extremely “fair” for a Major Non-NATO Ally; one wonders!
A strange alliance this is that the US and NATO has granted to Pakistan and its
people whereas these two are the only entities violating Pakistan’s sovereignty
for nearly a decade. Not even Pakistan’s archrival India has done what these
friends have done. Drone attacks, clandestine operations, troops incursions,
sabotage and then the operatives like Raymond Davis is what Pakistan and
Pakistanis have got. More condemnable is the fact that the principle of
sovereign equality established by Western democracies is inapplicable on
Pakistan and Pakistan’s sovereignty was violated by 85 drone attacks during 2010
i.e. more than one attack per week that killed and injured thousands of people.
Not many people know that more than 32,000 people have either been killed or
sustained injuries in Pakistan because of the America’s war on terror since
2001. The economy has suffered a loss of over $ 80 billion, according to an IMF
report in July 2010 and more importantly, the confidence of the Pakistani nation
is shaken on its state. What for?
Haven’t the Pakistanis gotten more than their fair share in this war on terror?
What exactly the nation is getting out of this cooperation when its “biggest
ally” precisely is its “biggest enemy?” A strange relationship is that the US
has with Pakistan that on one hand it operates unlawful and illegal killers and
spies inside Pakistan’s jurisdiction while at the same time singles Pakistan out
in the international community as an “epicenter” of terrorism. Another aspect of
the Pak-US relationship is the false-promises with which Pakistan has been given
a bitter lollypop. Every day, the nation hears the American boasting about the
reported contributions for Pakistan but the net impact of this “contribution” is
miraculously unseen by the masses.
No matter whatever the American protégés in Pakistan and whatever the American
officials speak, Pakistan’s sovereignty has become a total joke for the
Americans