Posted by
Brian Garst on Saturday, October 07, 2006 9:10:18 PM
There was a time when President Bush seemed to see things clearly. After Saddam's regime was toppled, President Bush declared unequivocally, "Any person, organization, or government that supports, protects, or
harbors terrorists is complicit in the murder of the innocent, and
equally guilty of terrorist crimes.
" Finally, we thought, the U.S. government is serious about standing up to those who have supported anti-American terrorists for decades. But it hasn't happened. Not only are these governments still supporting our enemies, but many of them we embrace as "friends".
President Bush has described our relationship with Pakistan as a "broad and lasting strategic partnership." Let's look at the record of this "strategic partner".
No man has singlehandedly done more to put weapons of mass destruction in the hands of "evildoers" around the world than A.Q. Khan, considered the father of the Pakistani nuclear weapons program and a national hero. Between 1989 and 2000, Khan built a massive clandestine market, selling nuclear secrets to North Korea, Libya and Iran. Upon discovery of this network the United States government was able, after applying much pressure, to convince Pakistani President Musharraf to arrest Khan. End of story, right?
Wrong. Musharraf
pardoned Khan. The lesson to be learned here is clear. Sell weapons to Americas worst enemies without fear of reprisal. Our response to this outrage was to do nothing. A State Department spokesman meekly described the pardon as "Pakistan's internal matter". I'd say the proliferation of the worlds deadliest weapons into the hands of the worlds craziest dictators is a heck of a lot more than a Pakistani internal matter. Wake up!
President Bush vowed that Osama bin Laden had "no place to hide". What he meant, however, was that he had no place to hide...except Pakistan. The Pakistani government has refused to allow U.S. forces to pursue Al Qaeda in their territory. The only thing worse than this blatant opposition is the fact that we've gone along with it! Osama bin Laden has been allowed to operate freely inside Pakistan while U.S. forces can't get permission from Washington to cross the border and pursue him.
Pakistan recently ceded more territory to the Taliban-Al Qaeda alliance operating in their country. The terrorists now control all of Waziristan with more gains on the horizon. Musharraf's government followed this capitulation by releasing 2,500 Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists, practically everyone they've captured since 2001. Some partner.
After 9/11, serious change in the fight against global jihadist terrorism seemed a foregone conclusion. But so far we've seen little more than business as usual. We continue to allow our sworn enemies to operate freely while deferring our efforts to incompetent or hostile local governments. With friends like Pakistan, who needs enemies?
See this post and more at
Conservative Compendium.