And then the retired Pakistani official offered another explanation —
one that he said could never be discussed in public. The reason the
Pakistani security services support the Taliban, he said, is for money:
after the 9/11 attacks, the Pakistani military concluded that keeping
the Taliban alive was the surest way to win billions of dollars in aid
that Pakistan needed to survive. The military’s complicated
relationship with the Taliban is part of what the official called the
Pakistani military’s “strategic games.” Like other Pakistanis, this
former senior official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of
the sensitivity of what he was telling me.
(Dexter Filkins, the NYTimes, 9/7/2008)
Archive for September 7, 2008
Dexter Filkins in the Tribal Areas of Pakistan
September 7, 2008There’s a Real World out there and it’s in Pakistan
September 7, 2008Who is most ready to face the problems out there in the real world, McCain or Obama? Well here's a longstanding real world problem that not one of our leaders of the recent past apparently understood, let alone faced: Pakistan's failure to destroy the Al Qaeda and Taliban sanctuaries in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, or FATA, of the country.
For nearly eight years under George Bush we supported Pakistan to the tune of $10 billion, or more, all with the aim of suppressing the Pakistan based terrorists. But without success. Why? Because the Pakistan military was really not on our side, never fully entered into what they probably saw as our fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Why didn't they? Well India was one reason. They were concerned that by putting down the Taliban they would make it easier for the Indians, their mortal enemies, to gain the upper hand in Afghanistan. Another reason was the anti-Americanism prevalent throughout the region, a feeling that many of their officers shared with the people. But the real reason, as revealed by Dexter Filkins in today's NYTimes was money. Here is what he says:
"And then the retired Pakistani official offered another explanation —
one that he said could never be discussed in public. The reason the
Pakistani security services support the Taliban, he said, is for money:
after the 9/11 attacks, the Pakistani military concluded that keeping
the Taliban alive was the surest way to win billions of dollars in aid
that Pakistan needed to survive."
So George Bush got it all wrong, evidently never understood what motivated the Pakistan military. Who might have got it, might still get it, right? Al Gore, John Kerry? And now Obama or McCain? The positions the latter have taken are so far not encouraging.
Neither Obama nor McCain has shown any substantial grasp of the situation in Pakistan. Who of the two of them is at all aware of what motivates our enemies? If in this situation Dexter Filkins is correct that personal gain, money, is still the main motivator of Pakistan's actions, or lack of actions in the war on terror, at the very least we should stop the flow of our wealth to the Pakistan military. When will we hear this from either one of our candidates?
