It is such a deplorable fact that since the time Pakistan joined the so-called American war on terror, the people and country have paid a heavy price more than any other nation in this war. This war is continuing without any relent and President Obama seems totally surrounded by the hawks of the previous US government. There are plenty of thick theses done by scores of US scholars proving that how a war could act as an engine for the US economy but this established principle seemingly is faltering with a dwindling dollar and weaker economy that has shaken both the US and the world.
September the 11th, 2001 was indeed a deplorable incident. The only difference from then and now is that the ones who are dying now are not the Americans but are Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan while other than those two tall buildings, all the destruction has come to these three countries alone.
A strange alliance this is that the US and NATO has granted to Pakistan and its people whereas these two are the only entities violating Pakistans sovereignty for nearly a decade. Not even Pakistans archrival India has done what these friends have done. Drone attacks, clandestine operations, troops incursions, sabotage and now the operatives like Raymond Davis is what Pakistan and Pakistanis have got. More condemnable is the fact that the principle of sovereign equality established by Western democracies is inapplicable on Pakistan and Pakistans sovereignty was violated by 85 drone attacks during 2010, i.e., more than one attack per week that killed and injured thousands of people.
Not many people know that more than 32,000 people have either been killed or sustained injuries in Pakistan because of the Americas war on terror since 2001. The economy has suffered a loss of over $ 80 billion, according to an IMF report in July 2010 and more importantly, the confidence of the Pakistani nation is shaken on its state. What for?
Havent the Pakistanis gotten more than their fair share in this war on terror? What exactly the nation is getting out of this cooperation when its biggest ally precisely is its biggest enemy? The US operates killers and spies inside Pakistan while at the same time singles out Pakistan in the international community as an epicentre of terrorism.
No matter whatever the American protgs in Pakistan and whatever the American officials speak, Pakistans sovereignty has become a total joke for the Americans.
HAMZA ALI
Lahore
