Archive for May, 2011

Pakistan & the Aftermath of the Raid to Kill Bin Laden

Posted in Politics on May 6, 2011 by authorcarloscardoso

Pakistan claims to be our ally and is heavily subsidized with U.S. Foreign aid  yet reportedly is withholding the return of the wreckage of the helicopter used by Navy Seals on their mission to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden. The response to our mission by the Pakistani government is telling. They have not promptly returned the wreckage to us which is rightfully ours and  the concern is that it could fall into the hands of our adversaries namely the Chinese giving them access to secret military technology. They have also expressed their intention to cut the number of non combat  US troops and have threatened us with further actions if we are to violate their sovereignty with further unauthorized attacks upon their territory. The fact that we did not tell them of the operation and reportedly used stealth helicopters to carry out the mission without their knowledge infers a lack of trust on our part. The location of the compound outside their military academy also raises questions as to their complicity in harboring not only Bin Laden but also high-ranking members of the Taliban such as Mullah Omar. In light of their actions we need to review our relationship and commitment to the Pakistani government. Pakistan is a nuclear armed Muslim nation with a fragile government. We must consider all options to ensure that Pakistan is a friend in deeds and that we make clear that if they do not act as a full partner in the war on terror then they may be classified as a terror sponsoring nation and as such could be a target for future actions including loss of aid and possibly face military action to ensure their nuclear arsenal does not fall into enemy hands. We must remember this is a country that exported nuclear technology to rogue nations such as North Korea.