Date: 6/23/2002
A SERIOUS COUNSEL
..............Raid Pakistan. Save the world.
The creation of Pakistan as the homeland of Muslims was a grave mistake. There are more Muslims in India today than in Pakistan. Even the instigators of Partition, the British, seem to have realised the error, much to their chagrin. Recent public statements from London are the latest evidence of delayed wisdom. Realising that they could be the target of a 9/11-type strike has worried the British.
Pakistan, of course, is sitting pretty as the fountainhead of the 'International Islamic Militants Inc', with an Islamic bomb, courtesy China's 'Contain-India' policy and American indifference.
It would be foolish to underestimate the dangers of the rise of militant Islam under people like Osama bin Laden who are crazy enough to wish to subjugate the world through terror. Arguments against injustice to the Palestinian cause or the oppression of Kashmiri Muslims as justifications for terrorism are untenable. Most of the terrorists involved in the 9/11 attacks were well-educated and from well-to-do families. Their ethos is similar to that of the Nazis, who claimed that they were the superior race and, hence, destined to rule the world. Militant Islam now claims theirs is the only true religion. In relentless pursuit of their objective, they believe the end justifies the means.
Historically, the US played a decisive role in the defeat of the Nazis in World War II. As the sole superpower it is destined to lead the war against terror unleashed by militant Islam, particularly after having been wounded on 9/11. Yet the Bush administration seems to have lost its way. In its single-minded pursuit of bin Laden and his Al Qaeda followers, the US has allied with the wrong man-the double-dealing General Pervez Musharraf. Result: even after eight months of its campaign, most Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders are roaming freely in Pakistan. On another front, General Musharraf has openly blackmailed India, by threatening to use nuclear weapons in a first-strike.
A effective solution would be the invasion of Pakistan, before it uses the nuclear option or before its nuclear arsenal falls into the hands of terrorists. The latter is not as preposterous an idea as it sounds. The US has been toying with the idea of invading Iraq to prevent Saddam Hussain from developing a nuclear bomb. If it is keen on saving Israel from Saddam's threat, it should also realise neither Israel nor the world will be safe from Pakistan's Islamic bomb. Besides, bin Laden will rather use a bomb of Pakistani stock on mainland America than Israel, home to Muslim holy places.
Pakistani nuclear bombs are more of a danger to the US than Iraq. So why not invade Pakistan? It will be easy at the moment. The Americans are already in control of Pakistani air space. They can monitor its missiles and aircrafts. If US soldiers do not have the stomach to do it, they may make a deal with the Indian forces. Once the place is cleaned up, Americans can have all the oil and gas pipelines located in Central Asia and India can have the gas pipeline through Iran as well. Once freed of feudal lords and the Army, there is no reason Pakistanis cannot have a modern prosperous and democratic country. One can even visualise a South Asian Union, like the European Union, in the not too distant future.
All this will depend on an immediate US invasion of Pakistan. Or else, the world will go through years of death and destruction, before the war against terror is won.
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