By John Galt
November 28, 2011 – 08:00 ET
The editorial cartoon in this morning’s edition of Pakistan Today tells the tale of woe the U.S. mainstream media will attempt to hide from the masses to prevent any political backlash. The outrage in Pakistan is impossible to miss and it is doubtful that a simple increase in financial aid will pacify the people or government of Pakistan at this time.
After years of errors like the attack over the holiday, if it was an error at all, the psychology and relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan has changed dramatically yet most casual observers would never notice this shift. The Chinese have been exploiting State Department incompetence and exploiting the schism by offering less intrusive aid packages to Pakistan along with many other Central Asian governments along with military aid. The mistrust of the U.S. is at an all time high in Islamic Republics from Turkey to Turkmenistan yet the mentality of this administration is that the policies used during the post Cold War period that the U.S. is needed as a buffer to Russia. The Chinese have been playing the old board game of Risk while the U.S. continues to play tic-tac-toe.
Add in this revelation from the Pakistani military, if true, via Pakistan Today:
Pakistan denies NATO was under fire before attack
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan on Monday denied reports that its troops opened fire first, therefore triggering lethal NATO cross-border air strikes that left 24 Pakistani soldiers dead.
“This is not true. They are making up excuses. And by the way, what are their losses, casualties?” Major General Athar Abbas, Pakistan’s chief military spokesman, wrote to AFP in a text message.
The Wall Street Journal, citing three unnamed Afghan officials and one Western official, said Saturday’s attack, which has prompted fury in Islamabad, was called in to shield NATO and Afghan forces targeting Taliban fighters.
The fire came from remote outposts in the Mohmand region in Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt, branded an Al-Qaeda hub by Washington.
An Afghan official said that the government in Kabul believes the fire came from a Pakistani military base — and not from insurgents in the area.
That version was corroborated by two Afghan officials working in the border zone. One border police official said Pakistani officials were informed of the NATO operation ahead of time, the Wall Street Journal said.
Unfortunately for the U.S., the people of Pakistan and in other Islamic nations in the region are going to believe the Pakistani version over any statements by the American government or media. This wedge that has developed between the Islamic world, especially the Islamists who are now mixing the idea of unification for a grand Caliphate openly within their campaigns, is deepest inside of Pakistan and now opens the floodgates to the idea that the U.S. needs to be ejected from the region completely. If the supply lines remain closed for more than a week, the Islamist factions within the Pakistani government and military have won the day and the U.S. faces the prospect of having tens of thousands of troops inside Afghanistan isolated with limited supplies during the winter season.
If anyone thinks the Taliban and their allies in the Pakistani military is not keenly aware of this fact, they are living in a world of delusion. This could be the end game to force the U.S. out of the region on a time table we did not desire and open up the Eastern front for the greater Caliphate movement.
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