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SPEAKING FREELY
Rein in Pakistan,
now
By Robert Asghar
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times
Online feature that allows guest writers to have their
say. Please click here if you
are interested in contributing.
Selig
Harrison, a veteran reporter and academic, is hailed for
his ability to offer "early warning" for geopolitical
debacles. Harrison has written recently about the Bush
administration's chaotic Pakistan policy, and in an
op-ed in Monday’s International Herald Tribune, he
offers this wrapup: "Perhaps the most compelling
argument for a US nuclear inspection regime in Pakistan
is that its nuclear facilities are riddled with al-Qaeda
sympathizers who might smuggle fissile material out to
terrorists. In addition to its 48 existing nuclear
weapons, Pakistan is also believed to have enough
fissile material in storage to make 52 more."
Here's why you should file this away for later
retrieval. To refresh my memory, I recently pulled up
dozens of old articles detailing efforts by the advisers
of Ronald Reagan and Bush Sr to accommodate Saddam
Hussein and his chemical weapons program. The documents
were sobering: Article on article detailing willful
ignorance of mounting Iraqi atrocities, a willingness to
put up with Saddam's use of mustard gas, Bush Sr's
defiant veto of a bill making it harder for countries
and corporations to peddle chemical weapons to nations
like Iraq, and so forth.
When I shared these
articles with colleagues, the response was as
anticipated: History matters little to us, and so do
facts that argue against us; we're quite busy with our
political pep rally and bonfire.
But consider
the chance that Pakistan could become a threat to world
security, by say, 2006 - a definite possibility if the
Bush administration continues to be half-hearted and
distracted in its efforts to stabilize Pakistan.
(Stabilizing and rebuilding, as we've seen, do not
quicken their bloodstream as much as playing cowboys and
East Indians.) A re-elected Bush administration would
declare that other nations are "with us or ..." - well,
you know the drill. They will ridicule liberal wimps and
Europeans for not being strong enough to join in the
latest melee. And they will move forward once again
without considering any culpability for the messes they
create directly and indirectly.
Eventually such
tactics will lose public support. Republicans should
have become America's majority party by now. They are
most in tune with the greater forces of economic and
societal change, and the American majority has long
trusted Republicans more than Democrats in foreign
affairs. But the overreaching, uncontrollable-puppy
approach of the current administration impedes the
process. It gives Democrats more of a chance in the
future than they’ve been able to generate on their own.
Stay tuned.
Robert Asghar is a
Pakistani-American writer living in Los Angeles. Contact
him at Robert@dimestoreguru.com.
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times
Online feature that allows guest writers to have their
say. Please click here if you
are interested in contributing.
(©2003
Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact content@atimes.com for
information on our sales and syndication policies.)
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