Khyber by-Pass

The news this weekend is that the U. S. is going to slow down military aid to Pakistan, just as I suggested two months ago.  It isn't often that my views on American foreign policy are in synch with the actual policies so I have to celebrate this moment! 

I care about this not only because it is a gigantic waste of tax payer money (which is reason enough), but because giving money to a corrupt and splintered government—a large part of which is supporting al-Qaeda—is dangerous to our national interest. 

In the 1970s I studied the South Asian region in college, and then I travelled by local public transportation through Pakistan, not once but twice.  Then, in the 1980s I had a bi-weekly news program, Asia Review on a listener supported radio station that often concerned news of Pakistan.  It is hard to over state how exotic interest in that part of the world was then. 

Now we have daily reports on the news of  Pakistan, if for no other reason but that our war in Afghanistan has to be supplied through one of the most difficult passes in the world, the fabled, Khyber. 

A lot has changed in Pakistan in the forty years since I was there.  But this has not:  people know when you are ignorant or weak, and they will take their own advantage of that.  It's not that people of Pakistan are all that different from anyone else in that regard, but because of the history of that area they are very adept at sensing strength/weakness.  Blindly giving out military aid in the billions of dollars to a government composed partly of our enemies does not put us in a category Pakistanis can respect.  That is true for our enemies as well as for our wonderful friends there.  So, we need to play hardball with Pakistan until they are ready to truly be allies.  That includes the possibility we won't remain friends.