Masopher's Mind

The Pakistan flood assistance can not be compared too heavily with the Haiti earthquake assistance for several reasons. Size, and proximity are two very important ones but the other is that no one want to support the bad guy.
Before I get to the last topic let me talk about the first 2. Aid comes from Atlantic nations. The UK France USA and Canada feel very strongly about funnelling tax payer dollars to other parts of the world usually to great benefit of local individuals not least among them the politician that is seen to be allocating the cash. What’s unfortunate about a country in the far east is that it is pretty far. A hour out of fort lauderdale takes you right to the earthquake zone and as far as I know the psychological ties that bind francophonic countries and countries under the hegemonic umbrella of the USA are quite strong. So when a fellow French or fellow Caribbean or fellow American is in trouble help is on the way.
Not so for Asia and the East. Squabbling is rife among people who are very similar and tribalism and nationalism is strong and violent. Hedgemonic ambition is highly resented despite the three very strong and large economies in the area. One (iran) is a global pariah the other(China) a global player and the third(India) is Pakistan’s sworn enemy. Pakistan is also a country with the 7th largest population on the planet. several Haitis could fit inside it geographically and demographically. if all the population of Haiti were helped in Pakistan it would still barely scratch the surface. Those in need are not very accessible either, even after you get past the Taliban, al Qaeda, kidnappers and flood waters you still have to brave the terrain and elements.

Lastly let’s not be naive, Pakistan is the badguy. Nuclear proliferation, war with India, support for terrorists, harbouring al Qaeda, harbouring the Taliban, being uncooperative. Pakistan has not done itself any favours. Many people are probably rooting for the floods to kill as many of them as possible and save us all a lot of trouble. Only the UK, home to a lot of them partly in fear is rushing to help them, but in truth not even the Pakistani elite really care about those that died.

Now might be a good time to catch Osama bin Laden.

If he is still in Pakistan he will be outside out and about helping people and promoting his cause via his construction background.

Pakistan is reaping the rewards of its infamy. For years it has taken all its aid money and bought weapons to combat India. They were well proud of their joint produced air superiority fighter right until the point that rain proved itself superior to airplanes.

Pakistan has been like, ” dont fuck with us we have nukes” and hasn’t allowed the USA to properly chase the Taliban down so now no body really likes them worst of all their neighbours.

Now that trouble has come not from spies and conspiracies but from nature itself Pakistanis find out what life is really about. Its not about James Bond the ISI and geopolitics, life is about life, eating, drinking, shelter and sleep. Probably some lunatics are still blaming India and America for causing the floods and cholera. In fact I wouldnt be surprised is  the semi mythical HAARP is floated soon. It did get airplay during Katrina. If George Bush  used it on Black people, Obama might use it on Pakistan.

Too bad one cannot shoot or explode away poverty.

If bin Laden is still alive, he’s a smart and compassionate guy, he’s out there helping, and good thing too, Pakistan needs all the help it can get.

When I last heard Pervez Musharraf, he ranted (as many Pakistanis do) about Indian involvement in Afghanistan, hinting strongly at the hidden RAW/ISI war being fought. The Indian intelligence agency and the Pakistani intelligence agency are currently fighting over control and influence of their neighbour.

Several years ago, Kabul Afghanis began reaching out to the large wealthy India asking them for support in military matters. India welcomed and returned this interest because India is looking to increase its strategic depth in the region not only having a rear guard in its Pakistan problem but increase its trade partnerships with Muslim countries. Since then, Indians in New Deli and Kabul have come under attack in what may be related reprisals from Pakistan’s central powers and military.

In October 2009 the Indian embassy came under attack from supposed Taliban forces. At that time is was assumed that it might have been the local Afghan Taliban carrying out regular insurgency strikes. This attack was the second such attack in just over a year.

In the early months of 2010, there have been several attacks in Kabul targeting Indian embassies and personnel. The latest attack in Kabul which killed several Indians and civilians indicates that these attacks are perhaps NOT from the indigenous Afghan Pashtun but from Pakistani Pashtun bent on maintaining their hegemony over their wartorn neighbour. Indeed I was present during a recent talk at a London University  when several Afghani (though many of them were Hazara and Tajik) outright accused Pakistan of not only being the perpetrator of attacks against Indian assets but on American assets as well!

The narrative that we all go by is that Afghanistan Taliban are sheltered by their Pakistani relatives and are hiding in Western Pakistan but more and more we hear that Pakistanis are very much involved in the logistics and organization of the attacks on Western troops and civilians. Even with the recent spate of findings and killings in Pakistan of Afghani Taliban Leaders based in the Pakistani city of Qetta (the Qetta Shurah) this very stage managed set of events could only be a cynical betrayal of some of the big names so that Pakistan can prove itself while continuing its strongly anti-Indian, anti-Western policies. Zardari, a money pilfering politician, went to the west in 2008 demanding money for cooperation and got some (which was converted to military aid) then Musharraf a military man went west early 2010 demanding military assets for turning over some Taliban and he also got some (which the military then proudly tested for their Indian counterparts to see).

It is plain that Pakistan’s government is weak and impotent outside of Islamabad and Lahore if so far and it is equally plain that both Afghanis and Pakistanis civilians are quick to point towards and over the border they share when casting the blame. What is becoming clear is that Pakistan’s military seems hell bent on leveraging as much of Pakistan’s wealth and Afghanistan’s poverty against competing with a quickly rising India which has more on its mind than the chaotic Islamic society to its west. India in my estimation does not load up its western regions with military hardware to threaten Pakistan’s existence, it does so that when nuclear enabled Pakistan finally collapses under the weight of its own ego the large and secular democratic nation will be able to handle the massive humanitarian and military fallout.