The reported editorial by The New York Times lacks basic logic, and its timing leads many to think that this is an intrigue against Pakistan. Even if we are to assume that the report is credible, what prevents the USA government from confiscating the assets of corrupt former members of the civil or uniformed bureaucracy and our political elite, which are located within their own country and other places like Gulf, UK, Canada and Spain, where these men or their families are residing?
Why should the USA launch a campaign against the institution of our army, which is so essential for survival and integrity of Pakistan? Why not punish individuals, instead of hounding the state of Pakistan?
Is it not a fact that retired former Admiral Mansoor-ul-Haq, convicted of corruption and having been cleared by Musharraf junta’s politicised NAB, now lives comfortably in the USA along with many others of his kind? So do those involved in insurgency and killings. The UK government continues to provide protocol to Musharraf under whose watch these crimes were assumed to have been committed, which NYT is now criticizing.
There are several other individuals living in the Europe and USA, who are wanted in Pakistan by the courts for crimes against the state and robbing its assets worth billions of dollars. Does this not constitute a crime of money laundering, when assets and foreign bank accounts total up to several millions of dollars, which cannot be justified by their declared legal sources of income? The problem is that the USA, UK, Spain and Gulf states have become the most favourable sanctuaries for the corrupt ruling elite of the third world. It is only when these individuals no longer serve the US interests, even if this is in conflict with Pakistan’s national interest, does it raise such issues of morality or ethics.
MALIK TARIQ
Lahore
