In Pakistan, denial is easier than heartbreak - OpEd

[ProfJohn]

I post this because I found it interesting and informative.

It gives good insight into the mind of a Pakistani. How their traditional view of their country is being undermined by reality.

I wonder if the country will come to grips with its problems before it collapses.

Doha, Qatar – Ever since Osama bin Laden’s assassination, the western media have been wondering why Pakistanis refuse to accept the truth and instead believe in wild conspiracy theories. As one particularly scathing article in a Canadian paper puts it, “This is the salve that now comforts millions of Pakistanis at a time of fundamental crisis. They choose the magical world of conspiracy.”

As an expatriate Pakistani, I’ve also been asked by confused Britons, Arabs, and Indians: “Why don’t you guys admit that things are out of control? Why is everything that goes wrong in Pakistan always a CIA conspiracy?”

Let me explain. In the 1980s, every 5-year-old in Pakistan wanted to become a commando or a pilot. Nobody wanted to become an accountant or an architect or a civil engineer. Ever wonder why? It’s because the army was awesome.

One of my earliest memories was waking up early in the morning each Sept. 6 to watch the Defense Day Parade on TV. It was amazing. There were planes, commandos, and missiles: everything that makes up the fantasy toy world of a young boy. As we watched the tanks roll by, my mom told me that Sept. 6 is celebrated to commemorate the valiant defense of the country against an Indian attack in 1965. The Pakistan studies book in school later taught me that India attacked Lahore in the dead of the night, without any provocation or formal declaration of war – a “cowardly attack.” We won the war and caused major losses to the Indian military machine. Maj. Shaheed Aziz Bhatti was my hero. The next chapter talked about 1971. We learned that India created a terrorist group called the “Mukti Bahini,” which terrorized the population in Bangladesh. While a massive conspiracy engineered by the Indians misled the East Pakistan population and eventually led to partition, our army still won the war and the Indian army was left licking its wounds. Shaheed Rashid Minhas was the hero this time. School books told us that India never accepted the creation of Pakistan and that its army would invade Pakistan the first chance it got; we would then be forced to lead terrible lives, just like Muslims in India lived a life of servitude and backwardness.

A career in the army was a dream. Regardless of economic background, if a young man made it into the Pakistan Army as an officer, it was guaranteed that he would have a nice house, a decent car, and access to the prestigious Services Club. His children would study in good schools and he would be eligible for discounts on everything from groceries to airline tickets.

Never again would the police harass him, and petty burglars would think twice before trying to break into his house in the military cantonment. He would get to play golf and polo. When he retired, he would end up with a couple of plots of land in prime neighborhoods, allowing him to grow old in peace.

The army was everything good and reliableOver the years, we observed that everything that was good, pure, and reliable in the country was associated with the army. The state infrastructure was corrupt, inefficient, and lazy, while the army was honest, disciplined, and efficient.

Policemen in the street were overweight, unshaven, and unkempt – they traveled in banged up pickups. Soldiers, on the other hand, were lean, well groomed, and smartly dressed. They drove around in Land Cruisers and big shiny army trucks. Army officers wore Ray Bans. Girls dreamed of getting married to dashing young lieutenants.
The army was awesome. The army was also obviously successful in the pursuit of Pakistan's strategic interests. In addition to the fending off the Indians, the army had now also saved us from the wrath of the Soviet juggernaut. The creation of the Taliban and a pro-Pakistan government in Afghanistan was a success in our effort to achieve strategic depth.


We had a highly skilled, extremely powerful, and deadly efficient military. We were a nuclear-armed nation that basked in the glory of our military strength – we were the world’s most powerful defenders of Islam. Allahu Akbar.

Then the 21st century happened and things started going wrong. Information that was locked up in books that nobody read was suddenly available on TV and in people’s email boxes. Internet articles told us that Pakistan started the 1965 war on Aug. 5 by sending soldiers into Kashmir (and that the Sept. 6 attack from India was a retaliation). Wikipedia showed us a news item from the Los Angeles Times that referred to our beloved Gen. Tikka Khan (the martial law administrator for East Pakistan) as “The Butcher of Bengal.” Googling “Operation Searchlight” gave gory details of the mass atrocities committed by the Pakistan Army in Bangladesh during 1971, including mass murder and rape.
The previously classified Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report, a post-fact investigation by a Pakistani judicial commission on the causes of the 1971 disaster, was leaked on the Internet for all to read.

Its findings accused the Pakistan Army of arson and excessive use of force. It also recommended courts-martial for much of the top brass for criminal neglect of duty, premature surrender, corruption, incompetence and for being power hungry. We learned that no action was ever taken on the recommendations of the report. President Pervez Musharraf was blamed in 2001 for hastily jumping into bed with the US after 9/11. Books were written on the multi-billion dollar businesses owned by the Army. Bomb blasts started happening. Was the Army still awesome?

Fast forward to 2011. The “war on terror” has killed 35,000 Pakistanis. Taliban have shown they can take over small towns. Terrorists have shown they can take over the Army general headquarters and one of Pakistan’s largest naval installations. Mr. bin Laden has been found and killed by a covert US raid, which the Pakistani air force couldn’t detect. Bin Laden’s long-time residency in Abbottabad raises serious questions about Pakistan’s intelligence agency.

The air force has admitted that the airbase in Balochistan is not actually under their control, as it was constructed by the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, Wikileaks has proven that our top general secretly asked for drone strikes and lied in public.
Suddenly, 187 million people are forced to come to terms with the possibility that their armed forces might not be as awesome as they thought.

Pakistanis are now asking difficult questions: Is the Army incapable? Is it corrupt? Has it really been the savior of the country for the past 65 years? And the most dangerous question of all: Are sections of the Army supporting the terrorists? In a world where the Army is the only thing in Pakistan that is reliable and true, this is a fundamental shock to the nation’s value system.


Denial is a natural reaction when everything that you believed in is suddenly taken away from you. That’s why I agree with most Pakistanis that it’s all a conspiracy. It’s a plan by the CIA to malign our armed forces and take over our nuclear assets. Maybe it’s an effort by India’s intelligence agency to hurt our defense capabilities. In fact, it’s probably an evil scheme by the Israeli Mossad to destroy the world’s most powerful Muslim army. The Army isn't corrupt. The Army is still awesome.
Nzaar Ihsan is a Pakistani expatriate currently living in Qatar, where he works in the banking sector.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Based on some of TGB comments recently, this seems fairly informative

 

[dabuddha]

Good read!

 

[busydude]

One of my earliest memories was waking up early in the morning each Sept. 6 to watch the Defense Day Parade on TV. It was amazing. There were planes, commandos, and missiles: everything that makes up the fantasy toy world of a young boy. As we watched the tanks roll by, my mom told me that Sept. 6 is celebrated to commemorate the valiant defense of the country against an Indian attack in 1965. The Pakistan studies book in school later taught me that India attacked Lahore in the dead of the night, without any provocation or formal declaration of war – a “cowardly attack.” We won the war and caused major losses to the Indian military machine. Maj. Shaheed Aziz Bhatti was my hero. The next chapter talked about 1971. We learned that India created a terrorist group called the “Mukti Bahini,” which terrorized the population in Bangladesh. While a massive conspiracy engineered by the Indians misled the East Pakistan population and eventually led to partition, our army still won the war and the Indian army was left licking its wounds. Shaheed Rashid Minhas was the hero this time. School books told us that India never accepted the creation of Pakistan and that its army would invade Pakistan the first chance it got; we would then be forced to lead terrible lives, just like Muslims in India lived a life of servitude and backwardness.

Why doesn't TGB condemn the army and the ISI? I know he does not like the present Pakistani Govt., but AFAIK never did he venture into talking about the military establishments; it is always the USA's fault and [Pak]Govt's incompetence of handling the situation.. he does not seem to realize that the Army and the ISI that are really controlling the country. It is not just denial IMO, the army also has successfully managed to create FUD among the populace.

 

[bfdd]

can we get a link?

 

[a777pilot]

This is exactly why I have been saying for years now, the key to SW Asia is not Afghanistan, that's just a rock pile masquerading as a country, but Pakistan. Pakistan is where our military efforts ought be.

Now before you knee jerk thinkers out there think I am talking about a forced entry, I am not. We should be partnering with the Pakistani military and the Pakistani political members to instruct and aid in the forming of a true democratic and free society.

Afghanistan is a wasted side show.

 

[ProfJohn]

can we get a link?

Sorry...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/2011062...jY29yZGlvbl9vcGluaW9uBHNsawNpbnBha2lzdGFuZGU-

Christian Science Monitor via Yahoo.

 

[a777pilot]

These are the three muslim countries that stand on the edge of freedom and the edge of doom: Pakistan, Iraq and Turkey. We should be in all three, not to control, but to instruct and aid.

 

[kage69]

It's true, the military in Pakistan is feted as if it is comprised of clones made from Chuck Norris, Superman, and the prophet Mohammed.

I lived in Doha in the 80s, and remember the day my parents introduced us kids to the Pakistani gardener they hired to tend the grounds around our home. Days later I recall him wryly disparaging my American themed army toys and telling me that in Pakistan anti-air defenses are unnecessary as Pakistani soldiers are in the habit of driving off aircraft with just pistols and rifles.

And yes, he was being serious.

 

[kage69]

These are the three muslim countries that stand on the edge of freedom and the edge of doom: Pakistan, Iraq and Turkey. We should be in all three, not to control, but to instruct and aid.

Totally correct about Pakistan, but I think you couldn't be more wrong concerning Turkey.

 

[bfdd]

Sorry...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/2011062...jY29yZGlvbl9vcGluaW9uBHNsawNpbnBha2lzdGFuZGU-

Christian Science Monitor via Yahoo.

ah wasn't trying to call you out on no source I just legitimately wanted a link to share it with a friend of mine I could have googled, but you know... fuck that noise.

 

[a777pilot]

Totally correct about Pakistan, but I think you couldn't be more wrong concerning Turkey.

Why? Do you think that Turkey is now lost to the muslim fundamentalists? I have hope that, with our help, they will see the errors of muslim controlled government and come home to freedom.

 

[Thump553]

This is exactly why I have been saying for years now, the key to SW Asia is not Afghanistan, that's just a rock pile masquerading as a country, but Pakistan. Pakistan is where our military efforts ought be.

Now before you knee jerk thinkers out there think I am talking about a forced entry, I am not. We should be partnering with the Pakistani military and the Pakistani political members to instruct and aid in the forming of a true democratic and free society.

Afghanistan is a wasted side show.

That is what we have been doing in Pakistan for decades now, and massive amounts of foreign and military aid. Without the aid we give them, Pakistan's economy would collapse. We have some control and friends in some of the military and some of the government but the people hate the USA. On Rachel Maddow last night she cited a survey which shows the percentage of the Pakistani population supporting the US to have gone down after the killing of OBL from 9% to 6%. That's right, all of our billions of dollars and only six percent of the population supports us.

If Pakistan didn't have nuclear weapons I'd say the hell with them. But they do so we have to deal with that mess.

Excellent find, OP, btw.

 

[ProfJohn]

It is all about the nukes.

We can blame Bill Clinton for that

But seriously, without Nukes we would be gone. I wonder if we could seize their nukes if we had too. I am sure we have their locations and I am sure some of their senior military types would want us to take them if they saw their country about to fall apart.

 

[badb0y]

That is what we have been doing in Pakistan for decades now, and massive amounts of foreign and military aid. Without the aid we give them, Pakistan's economy would collapse. We have some control and friends in some of the military and some of the government but the people hate the USA. On Rachel Maddow last night she cited a survey which shows the percentage of the Pakistani population supporting the US to have gone down after the killing of OBL from 9% to 6%. That's right, all of our billions of dollars and only six percent of the population supports us.

If Pakistan didn't have nuclear weapons I'd say the hell with them. But they do so we have to deal with that mess.

Excellent find, OP, btw.

The reason why the population doesn't like us because of the corruption within the Pakistani government. The people don't see that the only reason their country is surviving is because of our aid. There is nothing to show for the billions of dollars that we pump into Pakistan, not even the military seems to be advancing. First thing to do in that country is get rid of the ruling government right now. The current president of Pakistan is known to be a corrupt douche. The aid we send is probably going into his Swiss bank.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asif_Ali_Zardari
Read up on this i love you.
Help the people not the corrupt government and the public opionion will sway into our favor guaranteed.

 

[Oric]

These are the three muslim countries that stand on the edge of freedom and the edge of doom: Pakistan, Iraq and Turkey. We should be in all three, not to control, but to instruct and aid.

Please stay away, you make things MUCH WORSE

 

[Oric]

Why? Do you think that Turkey is now lost to the muslim fundamentalists? I have hope that, with our help, they will see the errors of muslim controlled government and come home to freedom.

What muslim fundementalists ? Turkish Right wing conservatives always win the elections. They are not much different than a Christian Democrat party ...

Turkey WAS a bureocracy/military controlled half democracy. It is moving towards a real democracy not away from it.

 

[bfdd]

That is what we have been doing in Pakistan for decades now, and massive amounts of foreign and military aid. Without the aid we give them, Pakistan's economy would collapse. We have some control and friends in some of the military and some of the government but the people hate the USA. On Rachel Maddow last night she cited a survey which shows the percentage of the Pakistani population supporting the US to have gone down after the killing of OBL from 9% to 6%. That's right, all of our billions of dollars and only six percent of the population supports us.

If Pakistan didn't have nuclear weapons I'd say the hell with them. But they do so we have to deal with that mess.

Excellent find, OP, btw.

Doesn't Pakistan have a very terrible missile program? I don't think their ICBMs are advanced enough to cause us issues are they? If that's the case then them being nuclear sounds like someone elses issue.

 

[Oric]

I have to give some political background of contemporary Turkey for the readers :

From the foundation of modern Turkey (1923) to death of Ataturk (1938) Turkey was a single party democracy, governed by Ataturk himself, through CHP (national citizen party)

After Ataturk passed out, his succesor Inonu continued the one man rule until 1950, at this date competition started, up until that point Turkey had a "state run" economy, little private sector and the country looked like an eastern bloc country with the exception that we were part of the west and did not call ourselves "communists"

Thia state controlled economy was a necessity at first but as every socialist country has experienced, those people who control the state directly controls the economy and the favors that structure started to change in 1950, the democrat party (dp) won the elections and the change began
Privitisation of the economy inevitably created disadvantges of the ruling chp elite and the claims of "turning away from the ideals of Ataturk and his sacred ideals of a Turkish nation (which were quiet true for 1930ies but Anachronistic afterwards)" were on democrat party, add to this pressure, the rookie stage of the multi party democracy and the result was the coup of 1960, the prime minister and his 2 ministers were hanged on claims of corruption which is one of the worst records on Turkish democracy.

After the coup the ruling elite slowly realized that by creating bureaucracy and judiciary control over the parliament they can rule forever, if they have the army as a ready force to intervene if a government takes too courageous steps, they have the example of the hanged prime minister
There are many national and international events that can describe what and why hapened between 1960 - 1980 i wont go in detail, there were 2 more coups ...

After 1980 the favorite theme of the "deep state and the army" were "islamization of turkey", after 1983 the elections returned but the ruling elite also had created a media which was responsible for propaganda against the governments that did not return favors or functioned as commanded. This media subject is too deep, but to summarize i will give an example, the owner of the largest media group once was visited at his mansion by the prime minister of that date, the media man was in pjyamas ! He had such power over politics.

Many goverments and coalitions were shattered just by coordinated attacks on media ad thhe declaration of "the concern of the army", while Turkey was literally ransacked by speculators inside and outside. (We had very big economic crashes in 1994, 1999, 2001 .. This shaky economy is creating wonders since 2002)

(Current Prime Minister) Erdogan's political background starts here, from his very first date as a politician (mayor of istanbul) he was a big threat for the elite, he was jailed for reading a poem on the grounds that this poem had "islamist elements", after the completion of his term he returned with a vengance, i can understand why

His political movement always had a constant barrage of propaganda that his ambition was to bring sheria to Turkey, but clearly our problem was not that, our democracy was an illusion, a masquarade to hide that citizens opinion do not matter, everything is ruled by the elite.

From 2002 to 2011 erdogans party have come a long way to end the system that started in 1950, the current constitution is written by the army in 1980 and is far from being a democratic one, he is proposing to change it and write from scratch. Afetr the recent elections in last month he did not get the absolute majority to make changes to the constitution so it should be a parlimentary unified decision. So far so good. Please note that there are no Muslim fundamentalists in picture. Their party usually get 1%- 3% vote on the elections.

 

[bfdd]

The reason why the population doesn't like us because of the corruption within the Pakistani government. The people don't see that the only reason their country is surviving is because of our aid. There is nothing to show for the billions of dollars that we pump into Pakistan, not even the military seems to be advancing. First thing to do in that country is get rid of the ruling government right now. The current president of Pakistan is known to be a corrupt douche. The aid we send is probably going into his Swiss bank.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asif_Ali_Zardari
Read up on this i love you.
Help the people not the corrupt government and the public opionion will sway into our favor guaranteed.

The funny shit is his dead wife gets a ton of praise for being a woman elected in the Muslim world, blah blah all that noise, but she was just another corrupt politician as well.

 

[Lemon law]

First of all, anyone can claim to be an immigrant from Pakistan, but how do we know the claim is true or not. I would tend to say its a fake simply because there is no mention of the prime Pakistani fears from India and the lack of understanding of what motivates the Pakistani man or woman on the street. .

Second, its easy for us in the USA to demonize Pakistan, but we in the USA don't have a land border with another country seven times larger than ours in population with an army seven times larger than ours too. And even worse, Pakistan and India have active problems in a ongoing Kashmir dispute and ethnic divisions with Hindu's. But still there is much the Pakistani military has to be ashamed of.

Third, the OP shows little understanding of Pakistan is now. And shows all the understanding of the blind man he feels the tail of an elephant and then is asked to explain what an entire elephant is. On one hand we can look at the Tribal areas of Pakistan, and we can say, gee it looks just like Afghanistan which would be basically true. But the rest of Pakistan is a thriving modern country, with Western type values and a fairly well educated population in which Taliban type ideas simply will not be tolerated. The point is and remains, the modern parts of Pakistan just have not gotten around to wanting to extend its control over the Tribal areas yet, and until the US invaded and occupied Afghanistan it was not a Pakistani concern in any way as the rest of Pakistan kept slowly modernizing.

As for why the ISI helped aid and fund a Afghan Taliban in the first place, is quite another story the OP ed writer did not get into for some unknown reason.

But still its just another reason I conclude the OP ED writer is either a fake or totally biased.

 

[Lemon law]

As for the Oric thread, IMHO, very informative. But still fails to really stress how rapidly the Turkish economy is growing and the fact that Turkey is now asserting its diplomatic influence in the mid-east.

IMHO, Turkey is really a country on the rise in terms of economic power and diplomatic influence. But now that the election of June 11 is over, its frees Erdogan to advance his democratic agenda.

 

[OlafSicky]

These are the three muslim countries that stand on the edge of freedom and the edge of doom: Pakistan, Iraq and Turkey. We should be in all three, not to control, but to instruct and aid.

Instruct ? What ? Show them how awesome are ways are ?FEEDOM, DEMOCRACY, etc. You might be as delusional as the Pakistani. The US is a failed state drowning in dept. There is just an illusion of freedom and the American Dream has been dead for a long time.
The US can only serve now as a cautionary tale

 

[Infohawk]

First of all, anyone can claim to be an immigrant from Pakistan, but how do we know the claim is true or not.

LemonLulz strikes again. He's exemplifying the very attitude in the article. "If it's bad, it must be a lie." You have got to be kidding me!

American culture has its weaknesses but it's great that we have open and furious debates about our country's weaknesses. How do countries like Pakistan intend to improve if they can't even recognize their own problems or accept that they are the only ones that can change their plight?

 

[bfdd]

While I think Turkey is a pretty cool guy who doesn't afraid of anything, Pakistan is pretty shit LL and your post(related to Pakistan) seems to come out on the defensive... Are you Pakistani by any chance LL?