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Stop bombing Pakistan. Really?

Believe me, I’d be mad like hell if Americans bombed Pakistan and killed innocent civilians.

Believe me, America is not targeting Pakistan. The Taliban are attacking Pakistan. Today, Pakistan is facing a very tough challenge of defeating home grown insurgency funded and fueled by the money that is directly coming from the Middle East. And in this fight to save Pakistan if Americans can help, why not join hands with Washington to save the country?

Also, people in Pakistan giving this impression that someone how tribal areas have become Pakistan’s territory should consult those who have lived worked and operated in Pakistan’s tribal areas. These areas never considered their territory to be a part of Pakistan and these people always felt comfortable with being labeled as Afghans.

In reality, America is bombing and targeting terrorists, want-a-be killers and suicide bombers’ training camps in Waziristan and technically, yes, technically, Waziristan was never part of Pakistan. Think about it for a second. Throughout Pakistan when someone committed a crime, he fled to tribal areas, and Waziristan is part of that tribal belt that provided safe heavens and sanctuaries to killers, thugs and dacoits, before the residents of these areas welcomed Arabs and other future terrorists. I am sure a lot of us remember ‘Bara’, a place where cheap stuff (guns, heroin, marijuana, cocaine, and illegal currency, you name it and it was available there) was sold – stuff that was illegal to sell in Pakistan.

Therefore, here is what I have to say to those right wing nut jobs who give this fake impression that they are outraged that America is bombing Pakistan. Stop whining; get down on your knees and thank God that Washington is doing Islamabad’s dirty work. And, if anyone is interested in getting angry, he/she should be angry about the Taliban attacking Pakistan and carrying out suicide attacks across Pakistan every single day killing innocent civilians.

The excuse that America is behind the chaos in Pakistan to deny China the chance to play any role in the area is not going to work anymore. In fact, no excuse whether it is blaming India, or the ever available answer that the Jews hate Pakistan or Muslims is not going to work either, believe me.

It is time for Pakistan’s public to get serious because the country is on fire, and Pakistanis can’t afford to waste time in listening and believing any more conspiracy theories.

Enough is enough.

Shifting blame, finger pointing, and refusal to accept responsibility has brought Pakistan to a point where the entire world is just dumbfounded by what is going on in Pakistan. Forget foreigners, Pakistanis who can afford are fleeing the country. At the airport, one cannot help notice that the flights arriving to Pakistan are almost empty, but flights leaving Pakistan are full. And this is never a good sign for any economy, but especially for Pakistan where foreigners bring much needed foreign currency.

Nonetheless, there are plenty of snake oil salesmen in Pakistan selling ‘India the enemy, America the enemy and Israel, the mother of all enemies and source of all evil’ doctrine, but it is time to give these hate mongers a good shut up call. If anything, people in Pakistan should throw shoes at those who try to sell them a conspiracy theory, be it old or new, just hit these people with tons of shoes.

Time is short and Pakistan has to decide whether it wants to be a country known for tolerance, peace, progress, cultural and economic activity, or the kind of grave that was Afghanistan when the Taliban ruled there.

The choice is very simple!

 

Author

Bilal Qureshi

Bilal Qureshi is a resident of Washington, DC, so it is only natural that he is tremendously interested in politics. He is also fascinated by the relationship between Pakistan, the country of his birth, and the United States of America, his adopted homeland. Therefore, he makes every effort to read major newspapers in Pakistan and what is being said about Washington, while staying fully alert to the analysis and the news being reported in the American press about Pakistan. After finishing graduate school, he started using his free time to write to various papers in Pakistan in an effort to clarify whatever misconceptions he noticed in the press, especially about the United States. This pastime became a passion after his letters were published in Vanity Fair and The New Yorker and his writing became more frequent and longer. Now, he is here, writing a blog about Pakistan managed by Foreign Policy Association.

Areas of Focus:
Taliban; US-Pakistan Relations; Culture and Society

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