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Wednesday, February 09, 20051107951300
Our Enemy Pakistan?
"Tora Bora and Nuclear Nightmares," by George Friedman, America's Secret War, pg 223, 2004.
"Pakistan pays tribe al-Qaeda debt," BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4249525.stm, 9 February 2005.
Is Pakistan an enemy of the United States in the Global War on Terrorism? George Friedman seems to think so
Most countries of concern to the Untied States granted access to U.S. agents and troops to search for and secure nuclear facilities. Some did not, and the United States began to think of ways to destroy facilities in these countries -- Iraq, Iran, LIbya, and, above all, Pakistan . Pakistan was the key, because it had the closest connections to Al Qaeda and the least cooperative intelligence service, in spite of the apparent cooperation of Pakistan's President Musharraf. The United States didn't really think that the Iranians would provide Al Qaeda with nuclear weapons. The Iranians were too cautious, and their own program was too undeveloped. The Iraqis were a greater threat, but they seemed not to have extensive contact wiht Al Qaeda. The North Koreans were much too concerned with regime survival to risk it -- and they were being watched too carefully. Pakistan was seen, of all these ountries, as the most unstable, most pro-Al Qaeda, with the greatest threat of nuclear proliferation, making it the biggest problem. It was not the only one, just the most immediate.
More dangerous than Iran or Iraq and less rational than North Korea. That's saying something!
Why, with that description, we could expect Pakistan to be making cash payments to al Qaeda
Pakistan says it has paid 32m rupees ($540,000) to help four former wanted tribal militants in South Waziristan settle debts with al-Qaeda.
Oh.
06:15 Posted in al Qaeda, South Asia | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this | Tags: pakistan