Pakistani @ MindSay

Israel has far fewer restrictions

Over the last week, many are asking why India does not "do a Gaza" on Pakistan, referring, of course, to an emulation of Israel's use of force against Terrorists Hamas-run Palestine, a territory from which rockets rain down on Israeli soil with reliable frequency (if not reliable destructiveness ...).

The answer for this question comes always with a painful grip on reality, is simple: India does not because it cannot.

Here are five reasons why:

1. India is not a military goliath in relation to Pakistan in the way Israel is to the Palestinian territories. India does not have the immunity, the confidence and the military free hand that result from an overwhelming military superiority over an opponent. Israel's foe is a non-sovereign entity that enjoys the most precarious form of self-governance. Pakistan, for all its dysfunction, is a proper country with a proper army, superior by far to the tin-pot Arab forces that Israel has had to combat over time. Pakistan has nukes, to boot. Any assault on Pakistani territory carries with it an apocalyptic risk for India. This is, in fact, Pakistan's trump card. (This explains, also, why Israel is determined to prevent the acquisition of nuclear weapons by Iran.)

2. Even if India could attack Pakistan without fear of nuclear retaliation, the rationale for "doing a Gaza" is, arguably, not fully present: Israel had been attacked consistently by the very force--Hamas--that was in political control of the territory from which the attacks occurred. By contrast, terrorist attacks on India, while originating in Pakistan, are not authored by the Pakistani government. India can-- and does--contend that Pakistan's government should shut down the terrorist training camps on Pakistani soil. (In this insistence, India has unequivocal support from Washington.) Yet only a consistent and demonstrable pattern of dereliction by Pakistani authorities-- which would need to be dereliction verging on complicity with the terrorists--would furnish India with sufficient grounds to hold the Pakistani state culpable.

3. Israel enjoys impressive support from many countries especially from the Americans, in contrast to the Palestinians. No other state--apart, perhaps, from Britain--evokes as much favor in American public opinion as does Israel. This is not merely the result of the much-vaunted "Israel lobby" (to use a label deployed by its detractors), but also because of the very real depth of cultural interpenetration between American and Israeli society. This fraternal feeling buys Israel an enviable immunity in the conduct of its strategic defense. India, by contrast--while considerably more admired and favored in American public opinion than Pakistan--enjoys scarcely a fraction of Israel's "pull" in Washington when it comes to questions of the use of force beyond its borders. 

4. Pakistan is strategically significant to the United States; the Palestinians are not. This gives Washington scant incentive to rein in the Israelis, but a major incentive to rein in any Indian impulse to strike at Pakistan. However justified the Indian anger against Pakistan over the recent invasion of Mumbai by Pakistani terrorists, the last thing that the U.S. wants right now is an attack--no matter how surgical--by India against Pakistan-based terror camps. This would almost certainly result in a wholesale shift of Pakistani troops away from their western, Afghan front toward the eastern boundary with India--and would leave the American Afghan campaign in some considerable disarray, at least in the short term. So Washington has asked for, and received, the gift of Indian patience. And although India recognizes that it is not wholly without options to mobilize quickly for punitive, surgical strikes in a "strategic space," it would--right now--settle for a trial of the accused terrorist leaders in U.S. courts. (Seven U.S Citizens were killed in Mumbai: Under U.S. law, those responsible--and this should include Pakistani intelligence masterminds--have to be brought to justice.)

5. Israel has the privilege of an international pariah to ignore international public opinion in its use of force against the Palestinians. A state with which few others have diplomatic relations can turn the tables on those that would anathematize it by saying, Hang diplomacy. India, by contrast, has no such luxury. It is a prisoner of its own global aspirations--and pretensions.

Just a thought: How come the British denounced the words of their sailors when they admitted to have entered Iranian waters, with respect to the fact that they were being pressurized to say so - when in fact the British sailors looked extremely well kept and happy and not under threat from any angle? Where as, the forced declarations of the poor Iraqis in Guantanamo Bay by the Americans, were not reproached by the Muslim world even though it was more than obvious that they had been ruthlessly tormented to admit that they were at fault for random acts of terrorism.
Has an Iron curtain descended upon the senses of the Muslim world, such that they are sightlessly absorbing all that is propagated by the powerful Western media through their sponges of brains? Is it not our responsibility, our right – even – to know all sides of the story, not just the CNN side and then act upon it accordingly? Maybe it is just because the Muslim World has been blessed with such capable leaders that we have reached such useless existence where we are harnessed into a four-walled ignorance. And will remain captives to our “emotionally-involved with the west, of a leader” till someone manages to cast a stone at his hypocrisy and wipe out Musharraf’s dictatorial regime before his line of fire becomes raging flames too violent to extinguish.

“O ye who believe! If ye obey the Unbelievers, They will drive you back On your heels, and ye Will turn back (from Faith) To your own loss.” (Surah 3, Ayah 149)

Why is it that Pakistanis allow themselves to be so intensely masked in Western Propaganda? Is it genuinely believed that following the Westerners is going to lead them into accepting us on the same parallel as other Western nations? Why is the example of Turkey not flagged on our faces – where despite its change of state religion to secularism it fails to be part of the European Union? Why is it that our private sectors have enough money to fund useless “model hunts” such as “Funk Asia”, but cannot scoop up sufficient wealth to finance university programs or “educational talent hunts” where the less privileged can be funded to acquire quality education? Yet, we refuse to engross ourselves in work more productive and strive only to represent ourselves by wasteful means such as music and leisure. We have sadly reduced ourselves to mere entertainers – our talented halves indulging time and energy into raising our fashion dogmas to a higher platform; rather than exerting the vigor into raising our religious creed to a much more accepted level. The more influential individuals of our society abuse multiple media – using it for purposes that are not any where near to beneficial – subconsciously moulding the more impressionable ones into sad clones of wannabe westerners. More over, it is really disappointing to see that no quality institution has been established over the past fifty nine years of Pakistan’s existence – with the exception of a few notable ones. But they too only accommodate a very limited number of courses and have room for only a certain number of students. There are people deprived of their choice of curriculums in college – such as liberal arts – since decent colleges in Pakistan offer only traditional degrees such as Medicine, Engineering, and Business Administration etc. Financial and personal constraints disallow many of our students to go abroad for education and the disheartening series of conventional education we receive here produces duplicates of the same capabilities, refusing to enhance the exceptionally talented amongst us. Feudal lords still dominate much of our political scene – we have no real leaders to represent us. None. We are constantly thrust with recurring succession of military dictators – who I may add, are instruments of the Western World. Our roads are bombarded with under-aged drivers, unlicensed drivers, deformed beggars, man holes, sewage water. Our sidewalks are lined with drug addicts, garbage, and scantily dressed models attempting to sell luxurious products in a country where more than half the population is deprived of even the most basic of commodities. And how does our youth respond to this injustice inflicted on them? For one thing, they do not even realize they are being deprived of cultured subsistence as they take into flow the ridiculous productions aired on “Pakistani, Dubai-based” channels. We attend social welfare societies and charitable associations just to score a few good words on college applications, while most of our energy is converged into organizing silly extravaganzas such as concerts and attempts to enter national television. While I am not completely discrediting people who are working to make a difference, it is just extremely evident that they remain to be only a minor portion of society and most of them are influenced by the new secularism of the western world. If the west can institute convent schools, why can’t we fuse Islamic teachings with the normal curriculum? Why are such substandard books used for Islamiat while subjects such as Science and English Literature are grilled with the best of writers? No one ever gives a thought to issues like these, mainly because the people, in our community, blessed with the capability to think either reside abroad or are too busy scraping up a decent income to provide for their families. Conclusively, why did the United States consider the Soviet Union and its communist self to be a hateful atheistic mist on the eastern half, when in reality Communism is not an ideology deprived of religion; and when today the United States itself is such an atheistic regime trying to liberate other countries of state religions. And while we can be considered America’s “Most favored nation”, we will never be preferred over India, so maybe it is about time we stopped feeling insecure about being “bombed back to the stone-age” and adhered to our own principles than scuttling after those of others

I woke up this morning flipping through the channels and came across FOX news talking about these air strikes conducted Friday. There are apparently quite a few Pakistani protesters very upset with the USA because of these air strikes.

From what I have heard, Ayman al-zawahiri was invited to dinner at a village. This man is considered to be Osma's top lieutenant, and therefore an important military target. So the CIA is said to have conducted an air strike on this village in hopes of killing Ayman al-zawahiri, but in the process (Obviously) killed innocent civilians. This includes women and children so I here (Which should not be surprising. They bombed a VILLAGE!). Even worse, it is now believed that Ayman al-zawahiri was actually never there, regardless of the invitation, and rather passed it up.

The death toll I last saw was 17 people, which may or may not change. So basically someone (The CIA has been accused so far, which entails the accusing of the USA by Pakistanis) decided that it would be a good idea/OK to bomb the living day lights out of a VILLAGE, because a top official of Osma's was INVITED to dinner there. Did they have confirmation he was there? Doesn't seem they cared. Just bomb it, they aren't Americans anyways. Right? Who cares! They aren't Americans! Heck, they are only Pakistani humans!

What in the heck are the people in charge of these air strikes thinking? What do you think 9/11 was? The terrorists poking fun at us? The terrorists laughing because they killed Americans? It was an ECONOMIC TARGET. Why the world trade center? To harm the USA economy! Did the terrorists realize innocent people would be in the building? Surely, in the same regard that the American officials knew innocent people would be in that VILLAGE! So I ask again, what the heck were they thinking???

They have stooped down to the level of the terrorists, who they have condemned. They have made themselves no better than the terrorists. Is this the way they really want to fight the "War on Terror." Because I guarantee you this sort of strategy will only hurt the USA's efforts. First of all, it will eventually tick off our allies in the region. Without their support, the USA loses a great deal of hope in defeating their relentless enemy. Not only this, but if the USA continues to bomb civilian targets they will continue to earn the outrage and anger of the people they are bombing. You know what this means? These people WILL HELP THE TERRORISTS! SIDE WITH THE TERRORISTS! The terrorists will say "See. I told you they are evil. Now help us defeat them."

The USA can not win a war like this without the support of the people, unless they flat out kill the entire population.

(http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,181742,00.html)