PAKISTAN FOR DUMMIES

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/resources/forum/posting.php
Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 11:26 pm
Post subject: Pakistan for Dummies: Response to The Idiot's Guide to Pakistan
By Nicholas Schmidle

Posted March 2009 in Foreign Policy

Alternatives:

1) Nuke 'em, especially if some fragment of their huge and complicated lunatic fringe attacks us again. There has been no end of problems since they killed Gandhi. Nuke 'em.

2) Assuming we could find the right people to pay off, what would it cost to get them to turn over Osama BL?

3) It is a profound mistake to feel we must educate ourselves about the intricacies pf Pakistani society and politics. Our only strategic interest in Pakistan is to make sure their nuclear weapons do not fall into the wrong hands and that they do not sell any more of their nuclear expertise to others. Beyond that, we should watch with mild interest while they kill each other. They are not ready for the 20th Century, let alone the 21st, and are best left alone. People who want to make careers out of Pakistan should pay for it themselves.

4) The burden of proof is on anyone who thinks this course is simplistic. The truth is that Pakistan is a bottomless pit and there is no good reason to jump in.

:evil: