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| Noam Chomsky |
In the report published in the Express Tribune Noam Chomsky has stated that the US only cares for itself, hence all the hoopla and drama surrounding "helping" Pakistan is just heresy and it will blow over, like it always has. To begin with, the US supported Zia ul Haq's regime in Pakistan (which is also considered one of the darkest and most traumatic in Pakistan's history) only because it served its interests. Defeating the Russians in Afghanistan could only have been possible if the US got chummy with Pakistan and it did exactly that.
Chomsky further says, and it makes perfect sense and I'll get to why in just a moment, that the prime concern of the US planners is the welfare of the citizens of the US; not Pakistanis. So all the drama about aid and military transfers and what not that the US has created around its intentions for Pakistan are just a showoff because in the end, what matters are the Americans, not the Pakistanis. Hence the drone strikes which target terrorists and which Mike Mullen (Chief of Joint Staff) and Leon Panetta (Director CIA) say cannot be stopped, will never be stopped. The reason being that Mike Mullen and Leon Panetta are both obsessed with eliminating the possible terrorist threat that might emerge from Pakistan's tribal belt and target the US.
Theoretically, and I'm talking from the US perspective, it makes perfect sense. The US is doing exactly what it is supposed to do: Guarding its population, and maintaining its interests around the globe. The Pakistani government on the other hand, and the military, is more intent on sucking this country dry rather than caring about the populace and who went to sleep hungry, who killed himself, and who killed whom in another spree of targeting killing. The US is hell bent on keeping its interests secure. The Pakistani establishment is yet to figure out what its interests are in the first place.
Chomsky goes on to elaborate that America will not listen to Pakistan's pleas and cries for help regarding Kashmir because India is an economic powerhouse with a huge market. Squabbling with it over some "insecurity" issues that Pakistan may have, no matter how legit they are, isn't in America's interests hence they would never engage India over Kashmir or offer Pakistan a nuclear technology transfer deal like the one they've got going with India because that will upset India.
Incredibly Chomsky proposes the same solution that I have been proposing ever since I started blogging: The solutions to Pakistan's crises must come from within Pakistan. Expecting the US to come riding on a unicorn and then sweeping us off our feet is wishful thinking; and its going to get us nowhere. The only issue is Pakistan is obsessed with the US. Every tiny internal matter is dissected before the US and approval gained before implementing it in Pakistan. The acquittal of Raymond Davis showed where we stand next to the US and how much worth we have for the US.
It is time to take our own decisions, and for our politico - militaristic alliance to recognize that bowing down like sorority ladies in front of the US might serve individualistic interests. But if we as a nation have to save our face, we need to do a bit of soul searching. We cannot blame the US for protecting and promoting its interests. That's the way of the world and the US has the right to do it. But we also have a right to promote and protect our interests and it is time we defined them. And then started following them.
