05-04-2011, 02:32 AM
SteveO wrote:
[quote=Those of us who opposed the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq said from the beginning that war was not the answer, using intelligence and law enforcement to track down bin Laden and his lieutenants was the answer. We've been vindicated by the events of the early morning hours on Monday in Abbottabad, Pakistan.]
Why this surgical strike thing never took place in the beginning is just way beyond logic and good sense. But let's face it, 9/11 and Iraq were the only things that kept Bush in office and his military industrial friends in the money. Tragic but true.
I agree with you 100% that we need to look at every dollar going to Pakistan with a microscope and LOUDLY ask "To what aim and what ROI?" I for one could gladly find a use for $20 billion in aid right here at home.
I must vehemently state that our propping up of dictatorships and friends in low places "because our enemies are courting them" is exponentially shortsighted...
The other thing that Pakistan is holding over us, in addition to the fact that they are harboring al Qaeda operatives, is that all of our military equipment going into Afghanistan has to cross over land through Pakistan. So as long as that war continues, we need them, and they know it. I feel that as a gov't Pakistan has abused the US and used our military aid less to assist us in reducing terrorism in their own country and around the world, and more to prop up their own military leaders. Yes their intelligence has helped US efforts, but they were apparently so unreliable that the US thought they couldn't trust them with any info about the mission against OBL taking place right outside their capital. Not good.
Given the rather dire humanitarian needs in that country, I would prefer to see a shift to more of that type of spending and away from security-related spending.
Pakistan could become a better ally in the future, but it's going to require accountability and real results going forward.