POINT OF VIEW

Aid And The Unraveling Of Pakistan

NEWSWEEK

Updated: 12:37 p.m. ET Jan 12, 2008

From the magazine issue dated Jan 21, 2008

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Posted By: Ghostrider @ 02/01/2008 5:33:28 AM

Comment: 2 Indian writers ... writing an article about Pakistan .. thats like having Hitler ... write an article about Israel and I thought Newsweek was a credible magazine. I wonder if these same 2 Indian writers for a milli second considered what Pakistan might have done in return for the Americans 10 Billion dollars ? Will the 10 Billion dollars bring back a single civilian or military lost life ? of which there have been many hundreds thus far in AMERICA'S war on terror. The underlining fact is simple .. America needed Pakistans help in the 1950's during the cold war... America needed Pakistans help against the Russians in Afghanistan in the 1980's and yet again ... America needs Pakistans help against Al Quida, which incidentally is a product of the CIA.
Are these two, obviously biased writters suggesting that Pakistan offer up all this help for free ? If so then I suggest they lobby the Indian government to sent its troops and military hardware to the front line and NOT charge for it.

Suggest in future Newsweek employ unbiased writers, to writer their articles.
Posted By: A Khokar @ 01/19/2008 6:10:27 AM

Comment: Strategic rents; a good word suggested and used for the services being asked for, from Pakistan; that it provides and is getting in return the so called the ???strategic rents??? for the assigned ventures. We find; that where the entire Middle East is practically, in occupation by US lead forces. Iraq has fallen and Iran is being viciously strangulated to concede. What choice is left for Pakistan?

When the hireling is seen being paid; the oppressors must also be high lighted that why they pay? In this case USA is riding the beast of Terrorism and is exterminating any one in her way to secure a hegemonic hold in the ???rich lands??? of economic resources in Middle East and Central Asia(say; a broader Middle East) to full fill her rapacious greed.

Devesh Kapur and Arvind Subramanian using the forum of Newsweek should be more worried, if at all they are, about the manipulating assailants like USA, on rampage targeting the poor defence less countries and subjugating them with the guns and powder; rather than trailing the sheer absurdity that how the paid up money is spent by Pakistanis.
Posted By: saj_alex@yahoo.com @ 01/18/2008 7:29:39 PM

Comment: Nawawimohamad,
I agree with your point that the aid is not free. but I think that is the point the authors are trying to make as well. The aid is not really free for Pakistan or its people. The money from Saudi has radicalized the madrassas. The money from the U.S. gets diverted to big-ticket military items that keep the corp commanders happy. This also comes with the obligation of providing manpower for a war with the taliban on the pak-afghan border that the Pak military doesn't really want to get involved in. Now Pakistan has had to be preoccupied with these things instead of focusing of how to harness its energies and the considerable talents of its people for more constructive purposes. Instead of worrying the world about whether a third world country has safeguarded its nukes properly, the world could have been warching as pakistan unveiled its version of the Nano car this past week.
Posted By: kaneandabel @ 01/17/2008 4:37:18 AM

Comment: Bulls eye! A perfect analysis. And I wonder why the state department and the American foreign policy establishment can not figure this out. I guess unless a catastrophe hits the US they do carry on with their short sighted policies. What are they waiting for ?? ....the next event?
Posted By: nawawimohamad @ 01/16/2008 4:54:28 AM

Comment: Both Mr. Kapur and Mr. Subramaniam are now being more American than the Americans themselves. Please be fair it is not "democracy" that has suffered because of oil. It is due to oil that the US is creating havoc everywhere. Ahmadenijad is not confronting the west but It is the west ( or rather the US) who is intimidating Iran and not because of oil, but nuclear! But still it is not really correct. Both Venezuela and Iran refused to be ruled by the US that's why the US is making all sorts of excuses to meddle with the affairs of those countries. If the US uses oil as a reasons for everything, then why should it be concerned with whatever Putin is doing?
As for the so-called "aids" to Pakistan, come on, don't be stupid, they are not free! The givers are not holy samaritans. There are always "conditions" attached to the so-called aids!
Mr. Kapur and Mr. Subramaniam, you are both naive and ignorant busy bodies!