Pakistan knew about Bin Laden hideout: Panetta

Ali_Syed · January 28, 2012, 4:35pm

Re: Pakistan knew about Bin Laden hideout: Panetta

Yes this is what I have been hearing all along, I am not really sure whether they would really have attacked Pakistan after Afghanistan or it was only a hype.

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2011/10/the-ways-of-a-superpower/

A new chapter in relations started when the Soviets entered Afghanistan. America now had the golden opportunity to take revenge for the Vietnam debacle and deal a decisive blow to their superpower adversary. Pakistan leapt without looking and let the Americans use its territory against the Soviet forces. There was nothing in it for us. No interest of our own. Our military rulers had merely spun stories to hoodwink the public about us being the next Soviet target so that they could reach warm waters.

America had directly threatened the USSR that if they went towards the Gulf, that would mean all-out war. Our rulers knew very well that the US would never allow the USSR to inch towards the Gulf. Even the Soviets knew that Pakistan has a joint defence agreement with the US and a direct offensive against it could cost the Soviets heavily. Therefore, our military rulers were deliberately duping the public that Russia would attack Pakistan for access to warm waters. It never would’ve. This story was merely so that we could jump in the fray to fight America’s proxy war.

By fighting America’s proxy war, our military rulers were milking money with both hands, getting more arms and using the drug trade to make even more money. All these things were conveniently under the banner of Islam. America had merely hired us to defeat the Soviet forces. Once this was done, they had no use for us and relieved us of our duties. And then our rulers were then indignant about how America had ‘used’ us then abandoned us even though they had paid us for what they asked us to do.

More than Russia it was Afghanistan which was fanning sentiments of pashtunistan and they wanted access to the warm waters of Pakistan. With Russia sitting in Afghanistan maybe our policy makers got frightened and sided with the Americans. It was in 1981 when the Russians threatened Pakistan that they will detach Balochistan from Pakistan if they did not stop supporting mujahideen. Another interesting thing I was reading somewhere was that in Balochistan there were left wing parties (more prone to communism) as Zia ul Haq had banned the right wing ones.