Chan Lowe: With the Pakistanis as friends...
It rightly angers Americans to know that roughly $3 billion of the money we borrow every year from the Chinese flows down the Pakistani rathole to buy questionable loyalty as we try to prosecute an endless, increasingly pointless war.
When you see such brazenly duplicitous behavior out of people who are supposed to be our allies, you are tempted to just walk away and let them rot in the political cesspool of their own making. Unfortunately, that would be worse than what we’re doing now.
Don’t forget that these two-faced military types are all that stand between Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal and some guy with a backpack and a detonator. Yes, they smile with one side of their mouths and make pro-forma gestures toward helping us root out terrorists. With the other side, they curse us for being in the vicinity. They aid our enemies as they reach for our wallets.
They’re slimy, undependable, greedy and venal. In other words, “realists,” by their lights. Invading powers⎯like Alexander the Great, the British, the Soviets, and now the Americans⎯come and go, and the goal is to survive their incursions and maybe score a little profit off them during high tide. Some things never change.
It’s good old-fashioned protection money, pure and simple. Those unfortunate enough to get themselves involved in the region have been paying it for millennia. This time, though, the locals have nukes instead of those rusty old Enfields the British Army left behind. We’ll just have to suck it up.
CHAN LOWE has been the Sun Sentinel’s first and only editorial cartoonist for the past twenty-six years. Before that, he worked as cartoonist and writer for the Oklahoma City Times and the Shawnee (OK) News-Star.
Comments
You're right in saying the Pakistani aren't the best of allies.
On the other hand, are the USA the best of allies? Who needs enemies when your USA allies blow up parts of villages regularly with drone strikes ("sorry", "collateral damage", "we aimed at the terrorist"), for instance?
Better to have allies while having peace at the same time :-)
Posted by: Reinout van Rees | May 4, 2011 9:03 AM
The Middle East- If I read my history correctly, Genghis Khan was one that conquered that part of the world...We've given 20 billion to Pakistan since 2001,plus massive amounts of weapons,fighters,helicopters,et.al.......
To be able to get our supplies through,(to use in Afghanistan) we need them... Of course we're unpopular in Pakistan as so much $$$ goes to the corrupt regime ---Which really hurts our already tarnished image...
It seems you can't destroy terrorism....Can't kill your way to peace....But we keep trying---Our occupation is breeding more new terrorist---Not diminishing them ......and the beat goes on.....
Posted by: Lorraine Wagner | May 4, 2011 9:47 AM
The last time I check out the history of this region, even Gingas Kahn had a tough time conquering it. Give it up, leave, send our boys and girls home. They are dying for what?
I know, I know, to keep us safe from terrorists. So keep sending money to be shared between the corrupt goverment officials to the region, keep the hate of the US alive and that will surely save lives and keep us safe.
Posted by: Annette M. | May 24, 2011 6:15 AM