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While we are sitting here in New Zealand pondering an awful coincidence of a major earthquake and plane crash, one would also have to spare a thought for the people of Pakistan. Their country has become one of the unluckiest on the face of the planet in recent times.
The multitude of crises and scandals that are facing Pakistan is probably causing many of their citizens to consider whether it's worth getting out of bed in the morning. Members of their cricket team have been accused of match fixing. Massive floods have affected the lives of millions. An American-driven campaign against Islamist fundamentalism is threatening to politically destabilise the country. Consequently, sectarian violence has increased. On top of all this, the economy remains moribund and looks anaemic compared to that of bigger neighbour and traditional rival, India.
The United States and, in particular, its drive against Al Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan is partly to blame. Under President Barack Obama's Afghan surge strategy, the Americans are pushing the Pakistanis to take on these radical Islamist forces on their own territory. Also, US forces have overtly (through the use of drone strikes and special forces) infiltrated into Pakistani territory to take on insurgent fighters who have fled there from Afghanistan. The hope of the US is to cut off the supply and communication lines of the Afghan insurgents in this way so that political negotiations can proceed with the Taliban on American terms. However, all these activities have done is to raise Pakistani popular anger against US imperialist meddling and this has, more than anything, strengthened the hand of the Pakistani Taliban and other allied Islamist movements. Furthermore, the Pakistani intelligence services have been continuing their support for the Afghan Taliban, something that was supposed to have ended in the wake of 9/11 but which, according to recent evidence, has gone on nonetheless.
These and other factors have sparked renewed sectarian violence in Pakistan. Just yesterday, in fact, 43 Shia were killed in a suicide attack by the Sunni-dominated Pakistani Taliban. Shia are a minority in Pakistan where Sunni Muslims dominate. What was really poignant about this attack was that it was aimed at a march organised by local Shia to express solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people. What an irony given that the Palestinian people are subjected to Israeli terror everyday and also that some Palestinians have undertaken suicide attacks against Israel as well. This is one more sign that the US, in its military campaign against the Afghan Taliban, has further destabilised what was an already fragile Pakistan.
The Islamist campaign is being further abetted by nature. Recent flooding in the country (and already these floods are some of the worst recorded in global history) have given aid groups tied to fundamentalist movements a huge boost. These Islamist charities have arrived in flood affected areas sometimes ahead of their secular counterparts, giving them a critical advantage in the campaign to win hearts and minds. All the while, the Pakistani Government has been slow off the mark to get financial and practical help to flood affected regions. This has been largely due to the Pakistani government's long-held tendency to spend huge sums on the military while neglecting the ordinary economic and social needs of the people. Therefore, the military-driven relief effort has been slow and patchy and with flooding still an ongoing problem in many regions, things don't look to be getting any better.
And one way in which the Pakistan people have long forgotten about their troubles is to loose themselves in cricket. On the South Asian sub-continent, the sport of cricket has long been the only unifying agent in an otherwise religiously-divided region. Now, that outlet for escapism has been tarnished by revelations that some Pakistani players have been bribed by bookies to lose tests against rival teams. The Pakistanis have been world champions (along with their rivals, the Indians) on many occassions but now it seems, with these revelations, that the population may not be inclined to continue supporting their home side for much longer. Politically, this could further undermine Pakistani national unity as cricket has long acted as an internal unifier.
On top of all this, the economy remains weak. Given the ongoing violence and political chaos, the forces of international capitalism have stayed away from Pakistan. Political and religious violence has impacted on domestic economic activity as has continuing official corruption. All that the country has been able to do is to sit by and watch neighbour India take off economically as the new darling of international capitalism. It certainly doesn't help either that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, both big promoters of neo-liberal economic policy, have given aid with huge strings attached, including the need to exercise fiscal austerity. This has only served to exacerbate the poverty already experienced by the majority of Pakistanis.
Overall, these factors have cast a pall over Pakistan. It's now time for the forces of international capitalism and neo-imperialism to give the country a break. It's also time for the ruling oligarchy (dominated by the traditional military and political elites) to step aside and make away for a genuine grassroots driven political, economic and social system like democratic socialism. Only then will the Pakistani people gradually work their way towards being a genuinely free, prosperous and tolerant society.
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Comments
Pakistan deserves it... Its
Pakistan deserves it...
Its not being unlucky, but rather harvesting the results of its deeds. Its not a victim of terrorism. Its the route cause of it.
Its acts are always cowardly. It wont even accept its deeds until proven with proof. Even that they will deny.
Chickens coming home to
Chickens coming home to roost.
This is what is happening in Pakistan. This has nothing to do with luck. The rot is set due Pakistan's unhealthy obsession of trying to bleed India through 1000 cuts...and trying to control Afghanistan. All it has succeeded is to become the center of terror ......its the largest export from pakistan....you have seen its mark in the US, UK, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, India, Afghanistan, Iran....
The only way to stop this rot is breakup pakistan along its ethnical lines and destroy its nukes.
If any terrorist explode a nuclear device anywhere in the world, you can bet that that device came from Pakistan. And this is the only luck factor. The world will be sorry or rather unlucky if it does not control Pakistan
Chickens coming home to
Chickens coming home to roost.
This is what is happening in Pakistan. This has nothing to do with luck. The rot is set due Pakistan's unhealthy obsession of trying to bleed India through 1000 cuts...and trying to control Afghanistan. All it has succeeded is to become the center of terror ......its the largest export from pakistan....you have seen its mark in the US, UK, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, India, Afghanistan, Iran....
The only way to stop this rot is breakup pakistan along its ethnical lines and destroy its nukes.
If any terrorist explode a nuclear device anywhere in the world, you can bet that that device came from Pakistan. And this is the only luck factor. The world will be sorry or rather unlucky if it does not control Pakistan
Pakistan is not
Pakistan is not unlucky.
Pakistan is subject to a three pronged attack from the USA, India and Israel.
If you think that is crazy, then you are an ignorant fool.
People of Pakistan know the truth and this is why the corrupt Western stooge known as Zardari is done.
Bigots are everywhere claiming to be spreading freedom and democracy when it really is oppression and fraud.
Beware of the snake oil salesmen known as Israel, India and America.
Chickens coming home
Chickens coming home (Afghanistan) to be roosted, aren't they lucky ?
If you (US, UK, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, India, Afghanistan, Iran....) get roosted parcels from Afghanistan what the f,,k Pakistan has to do with it ?
Welcome to graveyard of empires. We had already told you that here in this graveyard no imperial bullshit works. On things works here is that is Afghan tribalism, which many have enjoyed it before you and became part of the history book
God know I don't like Taliban nor American nor Saudia or UK and all the elite mafia who are the exes of evil.
I pray for a peaceful world and thank "Chris Ford" for his unbiased commentary on Pakistan
Pakistan Zindabad
You make your own luck.
You make your own luck. Pakistan has aided the Taliban and other Islamic terrorists for years. They looked the other way even though match-fixing allegations have been levelled at their team many times.
You reap what you sow.
India Profits From
India Profits From Pakistan's Unluckiness :)
Pakistan will continue on a
Pakistan will continue on a downward spiral, at least economically.
Who wants to reward (via trading with) a country that supports Islamic terrorism? You just strengthen those that seek to destroy you.
And why do they seek to destroy the west? because it is scripted in their internal programming (i.e., the Koran) to hate, seek out, destroy the infidel.
Show me a successful Islamic nation and I'll show you wealth built on the sinking foundation of oil or minerals only.
The startling thing is that believers in such a "death cult" would expect help and sympathy from the samaritan West.
Islam needs to ask itself why Hindus, Buddhists, Seihks, Bahai, Christians, Shinto, Jains, Taoists etc etc all coexist relatively peacefully, but not Islam.
Pakistan will continue on a
Pakistan will continue on a downward spiral, at least economically.
Who wants to reward (via trading with) a country that supports Islamic terrorism? You just strengthen those that seek to destroy you.
And why do they seek to destroy the west? because it is scripted in their internal programming (i.e., the Koran) to hate, seek out, destroy the infidel.
Show me a successful Islamic nation and I'll show you wealth built on the sinking foundation of oil or minerals only.
The startling thing is that believers in such a "death cult" would expect help and sympathy from the samaritan West.
Islam needs to ask itself why Hindus, Buddhists, Seihks, Bahai, Christians, Shinto, Jains, Taoists etc etc all coexist relatively peacefully, but not Islam.
Yes, all Hindus Gods are
Yes, all Hindus Gods are smiling today. Yes, Pakistan will rise again tomorrow.
Exactly the response I
Exactly the response I expected...
Sun, 05/09/2010 - 18:55 — Anonymous (not verified)
Turn it into a cycle of vengeance and revenge.
It is exactly this mentality Islam must overcome if it is to emerge from the stone-age.
A lier who lies all the
A lier who lies all the time, starts to believe his own lies at one point.
Whew, that was cryptic...
Whew, that was cryptic...
Could I trouble you for a "please explain"? ...
Perhaps it is a veiled reference to the cricket teams antics?
and is a "lier" related to someone with a bent for reclining, or a person of dubious integrity (liar)?
Pakistan a product of
Pakistan a product of religious hatred and Islamic triumphalism has forsaken civilized statecraft to the role of the vanguard to make the world submit to the rule of Islam. without wherewithal of modern science,technology and industrial backbone it has resorted to the methods perfected during early Islam and made more sinister and dangerous by the access to internet and explosives developed in the West and Russia. this could not have been possible without the help from Saudis and other rich Arab countries. the first target has been Israel&India. the Americans greatly facilitated the Pakistani effort in their madness to avenge defeat in Vietnam. as the Americans resorted to more bombings to subdue steadfast Vietnamese so its 3rd. world protege has increased the level of fundamentalist hatred and viciousness as resistances have grown. only the West's liberal human rights and policy of soft persuasion is giving Pakistan the time and space.
Where were you all fools
Where were you all fools when these Taliban ,then 'Mujahedeen' where helping you from f..king and agony of USSR ?
I think you were not born yet . You don't know world history and point at Islam and Pakistan.
Where were u f..king idiots when Zionists raided Palestinians ,where was your humanity ,and where its until today ?
Where were u b...trs when the then British India plotted Kashmir b/w two twin countries India and Pakistan ? and until today millions of poor are eating bullets instead of food ..
Where were u when Saudi nationals f...ked you and blew and killed thousands of Innocent people , instead of asking Saudi kings whom u afraid to ask any question , raided a poor already crippled country and killed thousand innocent people.
Where were u unethically born and raised people , when US and UK raided Iraq and killed thousand for nothing only to get and protect old reserves for future
where was humanity and ethics ?
where its now ?
Let's calculate and compare the human causalities caused by your capitalist engine and terrorist ? why will u do that !
Don't teach you bullshit here, if you have courage stand against the imperialism and elites who are using you as dogs and nothing.
I am not an enemy of all the western people , I have seen & meet with some, who are much better than average Muslim. I am enemy of those who come to teach us and mend my fence while wild animal walk through their houses.
For those who have been brainwashed by Fox, CNN you are worthless scrap on the surface of earth. I suggest one think ,get out of your homes have a visit of Muslim countries and their civilizations, it may cure you blindness, but there is no cure for people who have be blinded by God himself
Praise to people who sand by with the humans in trouble without and bias of color and creed , they are really humans and heavens are waiting for them, no matter from what religion they are
Gee Achmed, who got out of
Gee Achmed, who got out of the grumpy side of bed today, sounds like spontaneous jihadi-rage to me, now where did I put my TNT vest, darn it all.
You have got an ingrained sense of victim mentality... Accept responsibility for your woes and you're far closer to discovering happiness.
Spending less time down at the Madrassa should help you lighten up a bit too.
Personally, the West would love to leave you guys alone to rot in your stone age hovels, practice your pagan rituals, treat your women worse than dogs, pray to your pedophile guru and die of malnutrition or malevolence by 45. This would all be just peachy, but Islamist reprobates bought their legacy of mindless hate on to our soil.
Now we must apply the rod to avoid spoiling the children...
1) Iraq had ample opportunity to satisfy the concerned International Community that they were not developing weapons of mass destruction, just as Iran does now. They both could avoid the innocent West looking out for their own safety, by just simply saying, "righto chaps, come have a look, you'll see there's nothing to see here, but thanks for coming anyway". If someone wants to brag about pointing a gun in your direction, you are entitled to see if it's loaded.
2) Afghanistan was raided because they were harboring Bin Laden and again, allowing and encouraging anti Western organizations like Al Quaeda to set up and recruit on their soil. We are all responsible for what we allow people to do on our soil, so if you allow these creeps on your land you are guilty too. So be careful what you wish for Pakistan...
3) You make one good call, the Saudis, and in particular the Wahhabis should get seven shades of refuse knocked out of them for being the a-holes of the world, and in Islamic terms, that's really saying something.
4) Actually you make two good calls, Fox and CNN are crap, spewing mindless drivel to be consumed by morons. In this case, you have my explicit permission to blow them up forthwith. Allahu Akbar and all that.
5) World history tells me that the "Nation of Islam" is border-less, hell bent on forcing Sharia Law on the world and establishing a "Global Caliphate", will persecute others (infidels) just because they don't pray in the right direction, or wont pray to Mohammed, the sick muppet in love with mindless violence who started the whole freak show.
The moral of the story is... don't f with us and we won't pound you in to oblivion.
What part of that is so hard to understand?
Great article. Keep up the
Great article. Keep up the good work Chris. From a slightly relieved Pakistan. Oh wait, what's this:
""Realist (not verified)
Gee Achmed, who got out of the grumpy side of bed today, sounds like spontaneous jihadi-rage to me, now where did I put my TNT vest, darn it all.""
Maybe not so relieved now. As long as majority of Western population thinks along these lines, you can forget about peace. Oh and Realist, keep listening to Times of India/Fox/CNN and you'll be alright mate (in you're own little sad world).