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The Moving Finger Writes Pakistan: A failed state Author Name WHAT can one possibly say of a state which was born in hatred, fed on hatred, kept going on hatred and now slowly dying also in uncontrollable hatred? What a pathetic welcome did Benazir Bhutto receive when she returned ?home? after eight years of exile, self-imposed! In the suspected suicide attack on the welcome procession arranged by her supporters late at night in Karachi, her own home town, over 140 innocent people were killed and over thrice that number were grievously injured, but what does the United States, Pakistan?s patron, do? President Bush advises China and India to take remedial measures in riot-torn Mynmar against the military dictators there! One does not know whether to laugh or cry. Should India take action against Pakistan which has become the classic terrorists state, directly involved in attacks against civilians in Jammu and Kashmir? And who, pray, were the terrorists who attacked Benazir?s supporters? One guess is that they are followers of all Qaida and the Taliban. And who created these organisations? The United States did. Another guess, this one vocalised by Benazir Bhutto herself, is that the suicide attacks against her were carried out by followers of General Zia-ul Haq who, in the first place, was responsible for the imprisonment and subsequent hanging of Benazir?s father Zulfiqar Ali. And who kept Gen Zia going? Again, the United States. It was this infamous general who helped former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to travel unrecognised to Beijing to make peace with Mao Tse-tung. Never mind if Gen Zia got killed in a plane accident. Many believe that that was no accident but a deliberate and diabolical plan, supported by the U.S. to get rid of an unwanted ?friend? who, in his time, had served Washington?s purpose but had later become expendable. As the saying goes, the chicken are coming home to roost. Meanwhile, consider how the entire Karachi bomb episode developed. Benazir Bhutto?s bullet proof vehicle had two cordons of security around it. The outer cordon comprised of not only Sindh police officers but also security officers of Pakistan?s Intelligence Service in plain clothes. The inner cordon consisted of security guards engaged by Benazir?s own Pakistan People?s Party. No better security could have been provided to the home-comer. But, according to reports, the suicide bombers managed to get through the outer cordon without being frisked. A shocking discovery. Worse, the street lights went off even as the terrorists first threw an incendiary bomb and later the suicide bombers went into action blowing themselves and many others into pieces. What does that say of Musharraf who must have known what was likely to happen? Or else, why should he have told Benazir not to return home? That is only one aspect of the suicide bombing. The truth is that Pakistan has become a failed state, no longer possible to govern. It has been literally taken over by Islamic terrorists organisations like the Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami, the Jaish-e-Mohammad, the Lashkar-e-Taiba and a host of other groups brought up to hate and kill and who had once been happily sponsored by the US and had been nurtured by Pakistan?s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), which has now obviously become a law unto itself. Instead of lecturing to India and China over Mynmar why doesn?t Bush handle Pakistan? The truth is, he can?t. He neither has the courage nor the will to do so. Already the US is, in Pakistan and especially among terrorist groups, the most hated country. The US record is pathetic. In the fifties it succeeded in dividing Korea. In the eighties it literally reduced Vietnam into dust, killing millions and finally losing the war. Vietnam has now managed to rise on its own from its ashes. Afghanistan become Washington?s third prey. That was followed by Iraq. The US now plans to destroy Iran and Myanmar is set to become the next target. And not a single dog is barking. The United Nations has become a dead duck. It seldom had any voice in the past. Now it has become totally deaf and dumb. Is there any way out? The Bible with which Bush must be familiar says that as one sows, so one reaps. It was the US which created the Taliban and financed al Qaida. And now Pakistan is paying for its folly. But it is not Pakistan alone which is in trouble. If no action is taken to curb the terrorists, India will have to be even more careful in the months ahead. It is not just Pakistan, but neighbouring India, too, is going to get wounded for no fault of its own. And if the terrorists capture Pakistan?s nuclear armoury, which is substantial, then not even God can save us. Pakistan is full to the brim with Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) unlike Iraq which was falsely charged to meet Bush?s hatred of Saddam Hussain. Mynmar can wait; it has no nuclear weapons. But South Asia cannot. If the US means business, Pakistan must be immediately stripped of its nuclear weaponry and there must be immediate stoppage of further military aid to Pakistan. The Pakistan Army must be re-oganised and all the pro-jehadi elements in its must be eliminated. Saudi financiers must be warned to stay away. It will take a lot of daring, but Pakistan is asking for it. How dare Bush blame India for what is happening in Mynmar? The US has been supporting military dictatorships almost in every continent when they suit its purpose. Why doesn?t the US take steps against Bangladesh, home of many ISI?sponsored terrorist organisations? Is there democracy in that land? For that matter, what sort of democracy is Musharraf practicing? And in what way is Bush helping the liberals in Pakistan to keep the Armed forces in their barracks? The entire economy, for all practical purposes, is being run by the Armed Forces in Pakistan. It is a sick joke. India has no eyes on Pak territory as Pakistan has on India?s. Musharraf wants India not to interfere in Balochistan far away from India while Jammu and Kashmir is next door to Islamabad and the ISI is playing havoc there. If Bush wants democracy in Mynmar, let him first help establish democracy in Pakistan and Bangladesh. That will set the democratic ball rolling. There has to be an end to American hypocrisy. And our dear Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh must speak up. One gets sick of Bush?s moralising and Dr Singh?s calculated silence. Pakistan is America?s favourite poodle. India is not?and will never be, a point that needs to be stressed time and again. India has never patronised terrorists. The United States has, a point that it will do well to remember. The US now plans to destroy Iran and Myanmar is set to become the next target. And not a single dog is barking. The United Nations has become a dead duck. It seldom had any voice in the past. Now it has become totally deaf and dumb. Is there any way out?

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