Actually, it's not.
Look, you decide.
First, let's take a look at a May 12 article from the World Socialist Website - a place guaranteed to find some reasonable (and some unreasonable) flaws in how America does business (though they don't seem to have the guts to after the real problems, like drug money in the campaign coffers of big politicians and American government officials on the payroll of foreign organized crime).
The Obama administration has seized on the failed car bombing in New York's Times Square on May 1 to insist that the Pakistani military step up its war on Islamic militants and extend its operations into North Waziristan. The US demand is being backed by thinly disguised warnings of economic reprisals and military intervention.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made an explicit public threat during a CBS interview last Sunday. After accusing some Pakistani officials of knowing the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, she insisted on more Pakistani cooperation and warned: "We"ve made it very clear that if, heaven forbid, an attack like this that we can trace back to Pakistan were to have been successful, there would be very severe consequences."
Speaking to ABC's "This Week" on Sunday, Attorney General Eric Holder accused the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban, of being behind the Times Square incident. He claimed that the Taliban directed the suspected bomber, Faisal Shahzad, a naturalised American citizen of Pakistani descent. Under interrogation, Shahzad has allegedly admitted training in Taliban camps in North Waziristan, although the amateurish character of the bombing attempt indicates otherwise. A Tehrik-e-Taliban spokesman has denied any involvement.
Publicly, the Obama administration has been cautious, not wanting to further destabilise the already fragile Pakistani government. Under US pressure, the Pakistani military has already launched major offensives over the past year into the Swat Valley, Bajaur and South Waziristan, in which thousands of civilians were killed and hundreds of thousands driven from their homes. In the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the border with Afghanistan, US drone attacks have killed hundreds of civilians and reinforced anger toward what many Pakistanis regard as a US puppet government in Islamabad.
Behind closed doors, however, the "very severe consequences" have been spelled out in no uncertain terms. An article in the New York Times last Friday described "the new pressure from Washington" over the Times Square incident as "a sharp turnabout from the [previous] relatively polite encouragement". "And it comes amid increasing debate within the administration about how to expand American military influence—and even a boots-on-the-ground presence—on Pakistani soil," the article added.
Is the Obama Administration really threatening Pakistan? Pakistan has a large, professional military - it wouldn't go like Iraq did. Yes, they have nuclear weapons, but they wouldn't have to use them. In any case, use of nukes might be counterproductive: could Pakistan deliver a nuke on a target defended by the US military? The attempt would certainly not go unnoticed, though it would be applauded in many parts of the world.
Or, is the WSWS just trying to stir up trouble for Washington? The world's socialists don't seem to like anything America does or stands for.
Either way, Pakistan should learn a lesson from its ally Saudi Arabia: establish your country on oil-rich land, and you can literally get away with murder. After all, Sheikh bin Laden and how many of the 19 9-11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia? The Sandbox has sent how many jihadis to battle infidel forces in Iraq? The KSA funds how many radical mosques worldwide? But, they are our "staunch allies" in the War on Terror.
Well, an article from today's CBN News tells us of events in Chile, of all places:
SANTIAGO, Chile - Traces of explosives were found on a Pakistani man who was summoned to the U.S. Embassy because his U.S. visa had been revoked, authorities said Tuesday, and a Chilean judge ordered him held in a high-security prison under anti-terrorism laws.
Mohammed Saif-ur-Rehman Khan, 28, was detained Monday after the embassy's detectors were set off by traces of bomb-making material, said Mario Schilling, a Chilean prosecutor's spokesman. Schilling did not elaborate on what kind of explosives were involved or provide more details about the case.
U.S. Ambassador Paul Simon said there was not any indication that the embassy was a target of a attack.
A judge agreed on Tuesday to keep Khan behind bars for five more days under Chile's anti-terrorism law to give more time for the investigation. Khan has not been charged with any crime.
Before being taken to jail, Khan was driven by police to a hospital for a medical checkup and was able to briefly speak to reporters from a window of the police vehicle.
The guy denies being a terrorist, and an investigation seems to be underway. Regardless of this situation, we know two things: terrorists are getting involved down south, including in Venezuela, and Pakistan is a hotbed for terrorist training.
A nice summary of the current situation - and a nice lead-in for the rest of this series - can be found in an article at a major Pakistani news service (dated May 12):
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama said Wednesday he was "encouraged" by Pakistan's anti-extremist efforts, but warned the operation to flush out militants would take time.
"I think what you have seen over the last several months is a growing recognition that they have a cancer in their midst," Obama said. "I am actually encouraged from what I have seen from the Pakistani government over the last several months.
"But just as it's going to take some time for Afghanistan's economy, for example, to fully recover from 30 years of war, it's going to take some time from Pakistan, even if there is a will, to find a way in order to effectively deal with these extremists in areas that are fairly loosely governed from Islamabad.
"You know, part of what I've been encouraged by is Pakistan's willingness to start asserting more control over some of these areas. But it's not going to happen overnight," Obama said. — AFP
It's not going to happen overnight, because this system of extremists, trained for terrorism and guerrilla warfare, was not established overnight. It was built over the course of many years, to serve as a counterweight to India's numerical superiority, and to provide a means of waging a proxy war against India. The system of madrassahs and militant/terrorist training camps was invented to provide relatively small Pakistan (by population, it's the second largest Muslim nation and the sixth largest overall in the world, but smaller than rival neighbor India) strategic depth against the Indian infidels.
More on that to follow.
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