>If incentives fail to move the generals in Rawalpindi, then Washington must be prepared to threaten Pakistan with isolation through U.N. mechanisms, including travel bans on its military leaders. Finally, Pakistan must be made to understand the cost of nuclear warfare. If a single nuclear warhead falls into the wrong hands -- or is pressed into service by the right hands -- there will be no Pakistan. Only denuclearization can now save Pakistan from itself -- and the world from Pakistan.

Amen to that! I could not have put it any better. The recent Naval base incident shows that these nukes could easily fall into terrorist hands. The record of the military and ISI in funding and sheltering Taliban and AQ makes it clear that Pakistan will not easily mend its ways. Coercion will be required and time is running out. The Republicans understand this, but the Democratic leadership is being namby pamby as usual.

Because we sure as hell wouldn't mean it. India is an extremely valuable ally, dwarfing Pakistan in general importance. Taking the long, strategic view, it is probably our most important ally. It is the only legitamate democracy that has the weight potential to one day be on the same strategic power level as us, China, and Russia (well, Brazil is a long shot. I'd say that realistically India could get there within 40 years whereas Brazil, in my opinion, will probably never get there, and if it does, none of us will be alive to see it) Would we really throw that away (along with millions of American lives and trillions of dollars) in order to protect a country that is of debatable importance in a war on terror, which really poses no existential threat to us, and our eventual de facto victory is basically guarenteed? Of course not.

Barely past the first half of Komireddi’s piece, I could sense it was painstaking written but driven by genetic kinship for Pakistan. A believer of fact-fiction interchageability, he recklessly mixes claims, opinions and history, for example his thesis of why Pakistan developed its nuclear capability, how nobly and in Gandhian non-violence India acted in 1971, his agog quotes of statistics copied from indifferently selected sources, etc. Pakistan’s system of political-military drills that is in place for its nuclear defence-deterrent capability and its use of multiple dispersed-sites storages for its several types of delivery means has been built with Pentagon’s advice and at a considerable investment. The U.S. government has repeatedly and publicly claimed that the security of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons is credible. But it is evident that Komireddi has not just ignored these facts. He has also failed to think through the very predictable and certain outcomes of an attempt to capture (or buy! South Asian writers take everything they read in the WSJ as brilliant) and remove the system of deterrent capabilities from Pakistan. Wisdom dictates that India show genuine accommodation and understanding toward a troubled neighbour, which is suffering from a totally mis-premised conflict, started against Pakistan’s strong appeals, in October 2001.

The comments by Pakistan's supporters, which make no attempt at addressing the articles arguments, are a further demonstration of why Pakistan shouldn't have nukes.

Face it, Pakistan is a failed state, and Pakistani instability is the greatest danger facing America and the world today. The government is half Taliban, half corrupt, and wholly incompetent. Besides maybe Yemen or Somalia, Pakistan is the last place that should have nukes.

That said, I don't see how feasible this is. Even if we offered to buy them, as the author suggests, the Pakistanis know that keeping a hold of them is the key to getting more money in the future.

The article provides a top class assessment in my view .Even though it relies too much on history & on statements of important people which are basically used for mass consumption and not policy decisions by both Pakistan & India.
Yet there's truth in what followed.Pakistan did develop nuclear weapons ,they did try to avenge 1971 thru bleeding insurgency tactics,gain territory through 1999 Kargil,and still seeks strategic depth in Afghanistan as the only time they had a friendly govt in Afghanistan was when the Taliban was in power.It's rightly characterised as an India obsession/paranoia.
The author is dead right about Pakistan's economy .If only all three power centres(govt,military,ISI) converge to prioritise the improvement of economy & domestic matters rather than keep trying to champion idealogical matters in other areas whether near at home or in the Mid east.

You used to be a balanced writer on India, I remember reading your articles in the Guardian on Babri and Maoists and thinking how balanced, giving voice to the underclass, not the usual India "shining" stuff. I agree that Pakistan is not safe and the nuclear arsenal security must be debated, but how I wish you would bring the same balanced and critical eye to this debate.

You fail to mention that majority of these terrorist attacks are to Pakistan's military alliance with the United States. While the U.S decries the lack of security in Pakistan, it largely fails to acknowledge that these attacks stem from the outrage over continuous drone strikes, which nine out of ten times end in civilian casualties . These attacks are not try acquire nuclear weapons, as the WSJ article quoted by the author suggests.

The idea that the U.S should corner Pakistan into nuclear demilitarization is totally ludicrous, this is exactly the sort of thing that is going to further aggravate the lawless situation in Pakistan. I am not a big fan of Pakistan's nuclear weapons, it gives too much power to the ISI and the generals, and that is precisely the reason why the nukes are guarded strenuously and the world should not lose sleep over their security. The nukes guarantee the general's hegemony over the country, taking them forcefully would produce a much more extreme reaction than anything the Taliban can cook up.

This article was written in very bad taste. The author fails to acknowledge the Indian provocation in the build up to the 1971 war, the human rights abuses in Indian Kashmir by the Indian Army, which fuels the extremism there. Where is the plebiscite on the Kashmir issue which the UN promised?

Also, as the comment above notes, India has its fair share of religious fundamentalists, like the Shiv Sena , which advocate war with Pakistan and subjugation of Muslims in India. The Shiv Sena holds elected offices in the Indian Government and has much more power than the Taliban could ever in Pakistan, so if Pakistan's nukes should be taken away, why not India's?

Such drivel!

FT on how americans are messing up in S. Asia

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/f1c18c96-8652-11e0-9d5c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1NKYvRDMh

Willful and deliberate delusion by U. S. will come back to haunt the world in general and India in particular.

U. S. intentionally gave a free pass to Pakistani government, knowing fully well that A. Q. Khan in no way can single-handedly proliferate nuclear weapon technology around the world.

U. S. willfully ignored China’s proliferation of nuclear weapons technology to Pakistan.

U. S. has deliberately ignored Taliban’s Pakistani connections in fueling and sustaining Afghan insurgency as reported by Matt Waldman in ‘The sun in the sky‘ on 6/13/2010, corroborated by WikiLeaks leaks on 7/25/2010 and then further corroborated by Chris Alexander, Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005 and Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan from 2005 until 2009 in his article on 7/30/2010 titled ‘The huge scale of Pakistan‘s complicity‘.

Previous US ambassador Anne Patterson to Pakistan, wrote in a secret review in 2009 that ‘Pakistan's Army and ISI are covertly SPONSORING four militant groups - Haqqani‘s HQN, Mullah Omar‘s QST, Al Qaeda and LeT - and will not abandon them for any amount of US money‘, as diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks show.

No matter how Hillary Clinton and John Kerry spin it, ambassador Patterson had NO reason to mislead her own State Department and U. S. government.

How can Pakistan be in danger of falling to the Islamic fundamentalists if Pakistani Army and ISI are SPONSORING those very Islamic fundamentalists led by Osama bin Laden, Haqqani, Mullah Omar and Hafiz Saeed as reported by ambassador Patterson?

Pakistan needs nukes like a fish needs a bicycle chain. That simple. India isn't going to invade. Nukes are national security viagra. Get them and go F--- someone.

As if US buys their nukes, Pakistan will not build more.

That aside, methinks, attack on Mehran was carried out by Tehrik-e-CIA. To destroy those Orions before it falls into Chinese hands.

And Pakistan may be right. There may be Lashkar-e-RAW, Harkat-e-KGB, Sipah-e-VAJA, JundMossad operating inside Pakistan. If so Pakistan has only itself to blame. They created mercenary armies staffed by people of all nationality. Now, every nations' Intelligence Bureau is using them.

US may grow weary, and get out of Af-Pak (after destroying all the military hardware they supplied). Pakistan may have it's wish fulfilled and be taken over by China. Which does not bode well for ordinary Pakistanis. Their country will be turned into another Burma or N.Korea. Where people starve and military junta lord it over.

here's the way to handle pakistan: Leave them to the wolves (AKA China). Break off almost all ties. Let them turn into an extremist state. But, let them know, that if just one bomb or WMD of Pak origin (WMD forensics) goes off ANYWHERE in the world...we will annihilate them. Just absolutely turn their entire country into glass...no survivors. Unlivable for 1000 years.. See what they do. essentially, we should hold them hostage until they figure out that they need to modernize or be destroyed.

this is not jounalism...it is an emotionally loaded biased piece of writing...i am surprised FP has published such an article

I read your article, it was more like a piece of sugarless cake for me!
Getting angry on you is going to do nothing with anything. But one thing which clearly told us; Indians are always having fear of nuclear attack on them because even today there is no such proof that India is a part of Nuclear Weapon Society!
Thats funny and informative.

You wrote this article, you fool!!!
You collected all the unrealistic facts from different books which were only published in next home of AIDS, stealing stupid lines and paragraphs arnt going to impress anyone. I used to believe on my own quotation which basically i invented about indians!

"There are some neighbors who can only bark but they cant bite"

Writing here will only give you some money but it cant wash the fear of Pakistani's!
You guys better worried about AIDS instead of looking at your neighbors.
Clean your ass before looking at someone else's trousers!

There is no way in any hypothetical world where Pakistan would agree to such a deal. Perhaps the situation there does justify worries over its arsenal but we have no means to get them and Pakistan has no desire to lose them. Just another impossible mess.

Kapil,You are a born liar,the effect of infected disillusioned gene.
Pakistann did not slaughter 3 million bengalis.India Instigated and motivated the bengalis who slaughtered over a million non Bengalis and robbed them of every valuables things the non bengali possesed.The founder of Bangladesh ordered murder and robbing of non bengalis and his son sheikh kamal with few of his murderer freinds were going to every store and businesses of non bengalis and robbing them blind and if they resisted they were killed on the spot.The genocide commited in East Pakistan was by mukti bahini the official thugs of mujib.These report never came out because the indian government of that evil women indra gandhi squashed the news from getting out.India played equal role of commiting genocide along with the party of Mujib the Indiasns did not kill physically but those murderers had full backing of India.

Kapil get your facts straight before you write crap."You are a born liar"

Over at Dawn, the Pak newspaper, there is a thoughtful article called "Curse of the bomb".

http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/25/curse-of-the-bomb.html

A couple of relevant extracts :

"
In the cold estimations of post-Soviet calculations, nuclear power was a deterrent, its possession meant that others would stay away, that possession alone equalled power...

However, in the era of terrorism, ... weak states with nuclear weapons attract rather than deter non-state enemies.
"

Many Muslims in these third world countries are illiterate, and can't even read their own Koran. They rely on hate-filled clerics to tell them what to think and what to do. These clerics get them riled up with rage and control them like a mob. These clerics are trained and financed by Saudi Arabia karmaloop codes. This hatred and violence will soon return home and consume Saudi Arabia!

Before reading the article, just pay attention to this "Kapil Komireddi is an Indian writer". Typical Indian loser, begging Americans to take care of their enemy. In Indian opinion there was only one good neighbor, “Sikkim”. That is their definition of a good neighbor.

I used to often wonder what makes Indian so pathetically losers. Why is that they have no shame? Then it darned on me. For over two thousand years they have been F**** by Greeks, Afghans, Turks, Persians, Arabs, Portugesse, French, Brits, Chinese, heck even Japanese came close to f*****ing them up. As a result they have lost any sense of dignity or shame.

Who Controls YOU/US!!!!

Our evolution of the merchant class social structure is established by corrupt people, by bribing voters with promises of improved infrastructure and jobs. The Totalitarian Fascist merchant classes install corrupt politicians and party bosses in the government. In power, they are more of interest in personal gains for themselves and their contributors than in solving the social and economic problems of the people. The world Fascist Governments Think Tanks Strategic data indicate, due to the fact that 6 billion illiterate people believe in one form or another in the superstitious religions.

Thus, religion is the ultimate tool to influence, to divide and control the masses. As a result, we, the masses remain poor and a backward lot. We live and die by eternal quantity trade. To comprehend and profit from our knowledge of this concept of who controls us is the best indicator that the reader has evolved beyond the traditional social values and now possess the ability to think out of the religious box to precede to the pentium of efficiency in life. Libya and Egypt are shining lights, an evolution step to a more democratic society. Hopefully, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE and all Arabs and Asian illiterate masses in the repressive Islamic States will discontinue being a burden to the educated class of free thinkers in our social network.

Islam, all religions i.e., Christianity, Buddhist, Hindu, Judaism etc… All religions are dirty little mind altering drugs that are broadcast by the radical Fascist governments state and federal controlled media propaganda apparatus to control the masses. Religion and its practice is an imprisonment of the mind, all consuming, that scars the nerve endings, thought patterns, destroys and holds hostage the creativity in humans.

Religion is not a democratic thought process, it is a DICTATORSHIP, either you are with us or you are not. Religion’s manifesto is centered to control the emotion of the victim’s mind – the command and control center of the human body. Thus, thru its implementation by the Radical Fascist Governments they maintain total control and multiplication of the masses; to fund their existence they entice thru mass media their subjects to attend the great sales of the new product lines, the latest fashions display at the Great Religious Malls of the World. The RFG’s ultimate goal is to empty the bank accounts of its victims, thus to reduce the percentages of people from reaching financial independence, to keep the worker bees too busy to reach the queen, to keep the wheels of industry in motion.

The RFG’s use of Religion is the ultimate tool to keep the masses employed in the industry of supply and demand. The alternative to this Capitalist system is the masses marching in the streets of the nations capitals demanding change. The Industrial World war machine corporations and Hydrocarbon producer’s corporations support and encourage the Fascist Dictators of Malaysia, Libya, Iraq, China, North Korea, Pakistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia, for without an enemy and customer/client of the idea of a different ideology of radical Fascist governments there is no demand for weaponry to protect the opposite belief of democracy, thus no jobs, and the masses begin marching in the streets to demand the ousting of the aristocrats in power.

The people of the world should know the people they crawl in bed with, the Fascists Dictators they sleep with before they install them and keep them in power. Life, as democracy is an evolutionary process. Three things in life to always remember... You lead, follow or get the hell out of the way; otherwise your competition will run you over. As a direct result of 4,000 years of inbreeding and approximately 1,500 – 2,000 years of Islam and Christianity used by a tribal elite illiterate ruling dictatorship class with oil wealth and weapons development to finance their Fascist dictatorships, they control their masses. It is not a matter of if, but a matter of when the world masses will eventually be educated on hydrocarbons/oil that controls their daily existence. The Fascist Dictators can continue to try to silence evolution of the masses but for everyone they lock-up there are millions in line to demand, to fight for freedom for all people to achieve their dreams.

This new generation, definitely not Obama, of educated citizens of the United States will elect a secular American President that possess the knowledge to understand the human rights abuses in the teachings and practices of Islam, all religions, and is not paid off by the Saudi Royal Family, the House of Saud rulers of Saudi Arabia. This well traveled educated President of the United States will send their all volunteer army to invade Saudi Arabia and the complete Middle East, including Iran to rid its citizen and the world of the Fascist Dictators who rule in the name of religion. The masses in the Middle East must remember that the West posses the ultimate weapon, even greater than their silly little superstitious belief in a god/allah. As history has proven, the United States Government will use their nuclear weapons of mass destruction to maintain their power and dominance over the world.

A Dawn of a New Revolution!
Our Democratic Manifesto. The Arab and world masses are telling the Arab and Nations Fascist Dictators that their forced rule in the name of religion is not working and will never work. Thus, we demand their immediate resignation. What next? What will we install to replace the religious induced insane Fascist Dictators?
We will replace the theory and enforcement that humans feed on one another’s idea’s to gain funding to finance their climb onto the top rung on the ladder of life, to establish oneself at the top and to be accepted by the masses as the ultimate greatest thinker of the human race with a new theory and implement that all humans must benefit equally from our national resources, no one man or group of men or parties will control our natural resources, control the monies/capital funds produced from production and distribution of oil and commodities.
The high food prices are the redistribution of the oil rich nations and the world’s wealth to the commodities traders, investment bankers, mutual fund owners & managers, international oil companies, seed supplier, fertilizer suppliers, to the employed in the world. The trickle-down effect to the “Trickle-down economics” and “the trickle-down theory” are terms of political rhetoric that refer to the policy. This Trick-Down System does not work! Therefore, all Fascist Dictators cannot continue to rule the masses using religion and the trickle-down effect Capitalist System. The masses must all unite in the nation’s capitals and demand change. Let’s schedule a date for the all masses to march on their nation’s capitals to march in the streets and change our future. We will establish our Democratic Manifesto.
Our Democratic Manifesto is centered to encourage and educate the direct emotions of our fellow citizens to control our own command and control center of our human body. Thus, thru our implementation by our mass Internet we will educate the masses for all to benefit to control our own destiny. We will establish and call the International Constitutional Reform Party for Democratic Justice/ICRPDJ. Our ICRPDP we will establish an international government in the Middle East and our army of the masses to guarantee freedom for all. Our ICRPDP capital will be in Middle East with the infrastructure in place to support our communication network. Locate our new capital in the ME, the location with the greatest storage of oil, the natural resource that controls our lives. Until we acquire the capital from our natural resources to fund our government, to fund our existence, for our new ICRPDP party.
We request for our fellow brothers and sisters, citizens to wire transfer one US dollar to an account established by our International Constitutional Reform Party for Democratic Justice/ICRPDJ organization committee. In order to reach the masses we will acquire the mass media broadcasting companies to control our message to the masses. We will organize and write an international constitution that works for all citizens of the World.
Our ultimate goal is to depose the present rulers and establish an international constitution and governments that are controlled by the masses for our citizens to benefit from the natural resources in our world. Thus, we will control our destiny.
We, thru the ICRPDJ, we will replace the present Capitalist system that enforces wealth into the hands of a few and replace it with a government in the hands and control of all, the masses. Our world citizens will be a share holder and with our Internet and mass media system we will vote on the rules that govern us. Our first, objective is to establish a system free of dictators that rule in the name of religion.

Our new constitution will demand the separation of Church and State to guarantee that religion is never again forced upon us, to drug us, to control us. Religion will be written out of our constitution and our ICPRDJ army will enforce our constitution to insure that we never again fall victim to the religious drug. We will replace the religious parties, communist, socialist, republican, democrat capitalist system, and rewrite the rule of law to create a new capitalist system to guarantee our citizens benefit equally from our natural resources.

This means that all present world governments will fall and be replaced by our International Constitutional Reform Party for Democratic Justice/ICRPDJ. We will control our world government to insure our survival. This is a new age of mass revolution and we will succeed.

The USA control of the ME guarantees the free access of information to the consumer markets of the world i.e. the masses are hooked on the need to be entertained & informed by the use of the Internet/Al Jazeera TV/cell phones. The use of the Internet is the new opium of the masses and the fastest growing religion i.e. in less than five years Facebook have over 500 million users, it took Islam and Christianity 1,500/2,000 years to drug the masses to the point of 1 billion each followers. The next 2,000 years the free flow of information will conquer the masses to the point that there will be no belief in superstitious religions. The masses will have evolved to free thinkers. The people in the Middle East are marching in the streets to lift the Fascist Religious dictatorships restrictions on the flow of information, thousands martyring for their freedom. People no longer believe the single minded imams, now the masses have an alternative, its name; this new opium of the masses, Internet.

Slavery of the masses is achieved by their belief in superstitious religions, thus the masses assaults the free market. Whether that religious slavery of the mind happens in Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Egypt, Bahrain, UAE, Africa, Soviet Russia, Communist China, North Korea, United States, the entire world. Religious slavery of the mind limits economic growth, inhibits entrepreneurship, stymies creativity, and kills progress. It is the principle reason that Saudi Arabia & the world continues to be mired in an illiterate backward illusionary society for 4,000 years. The free market prospers when free people engage in free commerce. When consumers, workers and employers –no matter what their color, creed or sex — are able to freely associate with whomever they want to associate with, then the market will explode in activity. i.e. the international oil companies/IOC's plan to spend $600 billion and create needed jobs in southern Iraq for the next 6-10 years.

The truth is a bitter pill to swallow for the people. Based on your environment, humans are their environment. Thus, with your evolutionary environment advancement, with the introduction & comprehension of new knowledge. What will be your true beliefs & values? Do you have an original thought? The masses have begun to understand their purpose on earth. Now, they are in demand to control their destiny. Thru the Internet & Al Jazeera communication system millions have become aware of who controls us & the way to change, to take control of the status quo. The masses are but pawns to be moved at will by the master players in the hydrocarbon world chess game. It is a given, supply and demand; sure... all wars are about the ownership & distribution of commodities/minerals i.e. salt, gold, iron, copper, bronze, forest, oil, land and people to control the consumer markets for the victor's.

Oh, irony. The Pakistanis commenting here merely demonstrate what's wrong with their failing terrorist state. The unfortunate part is that they're not bright enough to realize this, and thus there's no hope of arguing with them using facts. Oh well, it makes for moderately good entertainment

When we step back and look at history, we see a country that seems incapable of making good decisions. It's history basically consists of: getting cut in two -> breeding terrorists -> getting ass kicked by aforementioned terrorists. Truly a paragon among the world's nations.

I recently saw the film "Thor": your typical summer superhero hit designed to appeal to the masses. It has no political undertones. The protagonist is asked by some government agents where he's from: Afghanistan, Pakistan, or Chechnya. Lol! This is when you know your country has a reputation worse than dog sh*t: even random summer films begin identifying you with terrorism. It's not pundits' columns that change the minds of ordinary folk; it's stuff like this creeping into pop culture. In minds all over the world, Pakistan and terrorism (and Pakistani and terrorist) are very strongly associated and become more so by the month. Go go go Pakistan, land of the "pure".

We may have to redefine the word pure.

It was said of the British, I think by Rajit Singh, that it was better to be their enemy than their friend as the British would always sell their friends and buy their enemies. Pakistanis have shown time and again that they are for sale; just buy them and have done with it.

When all the dust and name calling has settled, will someone please refute at least some of the points that the author has made? After all it is because of them (lies/baseless allegations) that most of those who call the writing biased have gone off shooting the messenger.

I do know that the US administration had said earier, in public, that they think the Pak nukes are secure. On the other hand, isn't the US Congress actually discussing the same issue of insecure Pak nukes right now?

But will someone point out the precise errors and zip the hate mongering please. This is become a classic case of people making baseless charges against the very person they accuse of making baseless and hateful allegations.

Very well written, to the point article withour beating the bush.

Somehow the way logic works for most westerners is - Pakistan is a troubled country. But it cant be that bad if Indians are saying this!

India told the world three decades back that Pakistan pursues terrorism as state policy. Nobody gave a damn. Now American and british boys fall in Afghanistan for just a single reason- Pakistans' active support for the Taliban.

India told the world that OBL has tacit support of the PakMil. Nobody (except the CIA) gave a damn. Now the guy is found where he was found.

India told the world that Pak state supported the Mumbai attacks. Now a US court is hearing the truths about the ISI-planned attack.

Now Indians tell the world 'Take Pakistan's Nuke Please' and you say 'Oh! so you are an Indian!'

Pakistan has cried wolf all the while with its regular cliche- Pakistan itslef is victim of terrorism (Rehman Malik seems to have born with this phrase in his mouth!).

Listen to what Indians say this one time .Or else it will too late for the world this last time.

As an American, I am quite concerned about the Pakistani military's ability to safeguard its nuclear arsenal. However, after reading this demagoguery by the author, I realize that the Pakistani paranoia does result from some valid sources. As long as India remains nuclear armed, Pakistan will have no choice but to maintain a bi-polar stance and retain its arms. Pakistani people need to finally revolt against the corruption that plagues its institutions and rid themselves of inept leadership. The true enemy of the Pakistani people resides within the kelptocratic leaders and institutions that inhibit the people from achieving greater wealth, security, and social well-being.

First you try to question the authors credibility and then you say 'a forum like FP should try to be credible'. Yeah and you get to decide what is and not credible you genocide denying rat. If you had your way you'd censor the shit out of anything that dealt in facts. The kind of stuff you have spewed out about americans, all the cliches about their flag being terrorist. Accept it, facts are against you boy. Stop telling us what we should not read. Stop censoring stuff.

The original article has a tone which might not appeal to most; but no one can deny the observations. While the conclusions may or may not appeal to everyone, they are certainly plausible.

What I do want to comment on, is the reaction of the Pakistanis to the article and a suggestion for our Western governments.
=======
Why Parity With India?

India is 6-8 times larger in terms of land-mass, GDP, population and other related metrics. Under most strategic doctrines, Pakistan would not be considered equivalent to India. But the Pakistanis live in a delusion that they are not only equal but even superior to India.

Their are two primary sources of this bravado:
-> Heavy does of false history which glorifies Islamic victories (and ignores the defeats)
-> The British-US support to Pakistan over the past six decades which allowed it to punch above its weight.

(A)
It is really sickening to see Pakistanis talk about ruling India and India being screwed, when the modern day Pakistan was the door-mat for the India sub-continent. All the invaders the Pakistanis mention ravished their grand-mothers. But they some how take immense prise in being the product of that pillage, and use it as motivation of what they call "Gazva-e-Hind".

They need to look at the religious map of the world to see that from the Mediterranean to the strait of Mallacas, the only significant piece of land which has succeeded in retaining its pre-Islamic identity is India. However, they feel Indians are coward, destined to be conquered and what not; the cognitive dissonance is blatantly obvious.

The passive nature of the modern Indian state, a result of its social moorings on the Sanatan Dharma teachings (derived from Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) is mistaken as cowardice. As noted in a recent article out of an American think-tank over the past six decades, India has been strategically reactive; content in minding its core business and reacting to developments around it. Perhaps the time is approaching when the modern Indian state becomes strategically active.

(B)
This brings me to the next issue; the one which is more relevant to the Western audience. The British created Pakistan to become the Anglo-Saxon spearhead in the Great Game. They also propped up the Muslims of the sub-continent to create another power center in the Muslim world opposite the Ottoman Turks. Pakistan is failing miserably in fulfilling those objectives.

(a) In spite of its nuclear weapons, there are very few who see Pakistan as leader of the Muslim World. Most of them are disgusted at the bad name Pakistan has bought to Islam. Recently the state of Kuwait STOPPED issuing any form of Visas to Pakistan; they are just fed up. Pakistan is only relevant in providing mercenaries for hire to autocratic Arab regimes.

(b) The Pakistanis have made it very clear that they are NOT going to serve Anglo-Saxon interests in the Great Game. They are openly courting the Afghans to dump the US and form an alliance with China. They have bled the US led armed forces in Afghanistan by harboring the Afghan Taleban. Hiding OBL in a safe-house in front of their West Point was just an icing on the cake; the tip of the ice-berg. It is a manifestation of the rot.

The West blessed Pakistan's nuclear weapons as a quid-pro-quo for the war against the Soviets. Now these weapons are being used to blackmail the West. It is time we re-think our support to Pakistan and figure out ways to dismantle it from its current rabid form.

Pakistan represents the greatest risk to the free world of a nuclear attack. It does not have to be a working bomb. A suitcase of radioactive plutonium in a dirty bomb is enough to make major cities unlivable; just look at what is happening in Japan. A dirty bomb attack on London or New York will turn our financial system upside down and become a serious threat to our way of life.

We can not rely on the Pakistanis being rational. If they could harbor the perps of 9/11, guide the 7/7 attackers, sponsor the Mumbai attacks, they could also launch a dirty bomb.

It is not a question of if; it is a question of when.They are churning out fissile material faster than anyone else and the sooner we put a stop to it, the safer we will be. We owe it to our future generations.

The Pakistanis would like us to believe that it is about India versus Pakistan. They could not have been more wrong. This is about nuclear terrorism against the free world. It is high time we in the West wake up to that reality.

Now before I get too far into my comment I do want to remind everyone that I love my country to death (the United States), but as with most people in this world I don't agree with everything that they do - I think there both positives and negatives with us tryng to get these weapons from Pakistan.

With that said, who is the United States to take away nukes from anyone. Even if it is Pakistan or another country that is known worldwide brands as dangerous with weapons of mass destruction or other powerful weapons.

I'm not saying that weapons like nuclear bombs or missles or other powerful weapons should not be taken from countries like Pakistan, but at the same time who is the United States to go in and take them, or buy them for that matter? How come a different country can't do this? Why does the United States have to be the ones to do this?

It's no wonder we are the most hated country in the world - we do all of the dirty work all the time. Why can't one of the united states wealthyaffiliates do any of this?

And this this is just a topic for debate...but how come the USA can have nuclear weapons but no one else can? If you ask me I don't think that ANYONE should have nuclear weapons. But if countries do have them why can the USA have them but not Pakistan?

Just a point here...

Here are some pointers for you to learn more:

1. US Support for Pakistani Nukes:

The US tacitly supported the Pakistani Nuclear program till the end of the Cold War. We allowed the Chinese to proliferate whatever they could without even a slap on the wrist. Officially we were making the right noises, but under the table there was undeclared support to Pakistan's program.

If the Pakistanis slipped, we were there to lift them up. Former Dutch PM Ruud Lubbers' comments about CIA pressure to let AQKhan go, not once but twice (1975 and 1986). Without the CIA support the Pakistani nukes would not have been a reality.

Read more here:
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/ludwig032306.htm

2. Anglo Goals for Pakistan:

The British did not create Pakistan out of any endearing love; it was out of cold calculations on how to further their interests after they were forced to leave. Jinnah was very well aware of the Great Game and openly offered the services of Pakistan to the West against the Russians. Please read the book "Halfway to Freedom" by Margaret Bourke-White, the LIFE correspondent. Her interview of Jinnah should be enlightening. Fatimah Jinnah explicitly stated that "We never expected to get it so soon". They got it so soon because the offered their services to the West. Pakistan was amply rewarded for it with a lot of weapons and financial support. General Ayub was facilitated by a ticker-tape parade in New York during his state visit to the US!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR1dDlJkhi4

3.Khilafat/Ottoman/British: The fact that Indian Muslims supported the British in the hope of saving the Ottoman is not in doubt. Nor is your statement that the British did not keep up their end of the deal (as perceived by Indian Muslims). They in fact reinforce what I said: that the Muslims of the sub-continent were seen as a counter balancing force to reduce the influence of the Turks and hence Pakistan was propped up. You need to read about Wlfrid Scawen Blunt and his role in shaping British policy towards the Muslim World, and the British quest to find a substitute to the House of Ottoman.

http://www.carrefourspirituel.comxa.com/anglais/an_pdf/religions/The%20Future%20of%20Islam.pdf
Neither India, then, nor Western Africa can reasonably be expected to supply that substitute for the House of Othman which we need

This was written in 1882 not very much after the fall of the Muslim rulers in mutiny of 1857.

Over the next few decades the Muslims of India emerged again and offered another alternative which the British had been seeking; something Blunt had noted also.

The Mussulmans of Delhi and the Punjab would no doubt desire a resumption by themselves of practical authority in the country where they were till lately masters; but they are conscious that they are not strong enough now to effect this, and their feeling towards English rule is certainly less bitter than towards the Hindoos, their former subjects, now their rivals. Were they in any way specially protected in their religious interests by the Indian Government, they would, I am confident, make not only contented but actively loyal subjects.

The British were very successful in following a policy known as "Divide and Rule" and creating multiple power centers is one basic tenet of that policy. In fact the Western support of Pakistan vis a vis India is one manifestation of that policy. It allowed Pakistan to challenge a country seven times it size; while being "loyal subjects" as Blunt had expected them to be.

:" A leaked US diplomatic cable says that senior Pakistani military officers are taught anti-American courses at a prestigious defence university in the heart of the capital.

The cable, published in Dawn newspaper on Wednesday and obtained by WikiLeaks, is likely to fan concerns about loyalties within the military after Osama bin Laden was found living in a garrison city, possibly for years".

As an American taxpayer I am appalled at the balls of Pakistani sympathizers on this comment section.

We have paid billions to this country, asking not for allegiance, but cooperation.

Do they not realize that their game of duplicity is up?

How long do I have to pay my tax dollars to the womb of terrorism.

Does not the whole world realize that Nukes in Pakistan are a threat to Pakistan and to the entire world?

Americans want to support stable Pakistan, that can be trusted. We do not want an unstable country, using Nuclear threats, or a country incapable of guarding its Nukes

Pakistani Nukes are a threat to its own existence.

The world will be a safer place without them.

THIS DEPRAVED, DERANGED AND DELIRIOUS 'WRITER' (WHAT SPECIES IS HE, AFTER ALL?) KAPIL KOMIREDDI RAMBLES THAT " If a single nuclear warhead falls into the wrong hands -- or is pressed into service by the right hands -- there will be no Pakistan"! WHAT DOES THIS MISERABLE PSYCHOPATH KNOW ABOUT THE SECOND-STRIKE CAPABILITY OF PAKISTAN? IF UNCLE SAM OR ANY OF ITS SATELLITES LAUNCH SUCH A 'DEVASTATING ATTACK' ON PAKISTAN, WELL, THE AGGRESSORS SHOULD KEEP IN MIND THAT MANY MILLIONS OF THEIR OWN PEOPLE WILL NOT LIVE TO SEE THE SUNLIGHT NEXT DAY! THERE WILL BE SCORES OF CITIES SHORT ON THEIR MAPS TOO! PITY THAT SUCH SCHEZOPHRENICS ARE LOOSE TO COCK UP THIS KIND OF COCK-AND-BULL HALLUNICATIONS!

"And this this is just a topic for debate...but how come the USA can have nuclear weapons but no one else can? If you ask me I don't think that ANYONE should have nuclear weapons. But if countries do have them why can the USA have them but not Pakistan?"

I completely and wholeheartedly agree with you. It cannot be a case of me and my friends have a right to be secure and keep their nukes while those whom we threaten or those who feel threatened have no such rights! What kind of that logic is that? To my mind that is the stuff bullies are made of. The only answer is nuclear disarmament across the board without ifs and buts. But no physician has ever healed himself.

That is what I have against the topic in this thread. Why just Pakistan? Why not everyone else too? OK the argument may go that Pakistan's nukes are in danger of falling into the wrong hands. Possible. What guarantee is there that China or India or the US will forever and always behave responsibly? I do remember when the Iraq situation was still brewing, George Bush made a statement that the US would not rule out the use of tactical nuclear weapons. How very responsible was that?

I know we need to deal with the consequences of our actions in that area, however, the US did not encourage nor turn a blind eye when Pakistan started the nuclear program. The whole world has only India to thank for a nuclear armed Pakistan of today. And then you have the gal and nerve to now ask the US to come in a clean up your mess? I know Indians can be slick as I have found out through the years interacting with them not just here but in their own country as well, but this is too rich even for Indian standards.

You are asking us to go in and take away Pakistan's nukes just so that you can have a field day in the region? You want us to take them away by either buying or just going gung-ho and grab them and spirit away in our stealth choppers? We might be simple and trusting of others but we are not naive.

What is India willing to contribute to this action? When you say, "If Kim Jong Il can identify, isolate, and cultivate the right individuals, why can't the world's sole remaining superpower?" Let me ask you. How much of your cash from outsourcing work from American works are you willing to dole out for this noble cause?

And when you say, "If incentives fail to move the generals in Rawalpindi, then Washington must be prepared to threaten Pakistan with isolation through U.N. mechanisms, including travel bans on its military leaders." What are you willing to do to make that possible?

But I am not all about pointing out mistakes in your faulty thought process. I have a couple of suggestions of my own for you.

a) Even though India professes that it wants a stable Pakistan, however, I have yet to see a serious step taken in that direction by India. Actually to the contrary, India has blocked Pakistan's inclusion into various regional cooperation bodies including IOR and SCO. India is opposing a trade-concession package offered by the European Union to Pakistan. India is also blocking a move by Pakistan be counted as a least developed country at the WTO. You cannot have it both ways buddy. You cannot keep Pakistan economically weak and yet remain stable at the same time.

b) Try some trust building measures instead of sabre rattling. Reduce tensions in Kashmir. Reduce your foot print in Afghanistan. Try to genuinely solve the issue and not be bogged down with your past baggage. Both Pakistan and India must move on. It's been over 60 years guys!

The hubris in this article is almost nauseating. Grow up please and don't treat us like the low caste janitors you are used to in India.

VICTOR-47 : Well said; you are worse than the 'low caste janitors we are used to' (in your mind, with all this depraved venom)! In fact, you are worse! Your rhetoric is nothing but the same absurd, brainwashed (and biased) cacophony from any CNN/Fox News-addicted ignoramus! The world expects nothing more from the likes of you! And remember, in spite of ravings of the like of you, it will have no bearing on the second most populous country in the world, that has not invade and subjugated any other country.

@VICTOR_47 "And you are more concerned about what India will do if Pakistan can not threaten the free world with nuclear terrorism any more."

Actually Pakistan has always claimed these weapons are solely meant and designed to counter it's eastern neighbor. Not aimed at anyone else.

@WAHID_AKHRAM. The name is Nathan Wu, and Mr. Wu for you. I don't know what made you go all foaming there buddy. But do wipe up that froth from your mouth before you speak next. And next time when you want to create an islamic sounding user name try to do some research first. No dialect of any language spells AKHRAM. Well, unless you pronounce my favorite beer as Bood Light. Google is your friend buddy.

but you were one at one time of our cousins across the pond. I know its hard to get out of that mentality. Thanks to Britain you can speak English and thanks to us that we let you take our outsourced jobs.

Every non muslim nation wants to take Pakistain's nukes, especially our eternal enemies next door. I think the only answer to such hate based drival is ....... why ask others to put the bell around cat's neck, why don't you come and get it!!

Human Rights: Modern Sex Slaves of India
By Tina McCloughy, on May 26th, 2011

KOLKATA, India: At the beginning, I knew only about a young teenage girl imprisoned on the third floor of a brothel in a red-light district here in Kolkata.

The pimps nicknamed her Chutki, or little girl. She had just been sold to the brothel-owner and seemed terrified.

Investigators with International Justice Mission, a Washington-based aid group that fights human trafficking, had spotted Chutki while prowling undercover looking for prostituted children. I.J.M. hoped to convince the Kolkata police to free the girl, but it would help to have more evidence that the girl was still imprisoned. So an I.J.M. official asked: Would I like to accompany him as he sneaked into the brothel to gather evidence?

India probably has more modern slaves than any country in the world. It has millions of women and girls in its brothels, often held captive for their first few years until they grow resigned to their fate. China surely has more prostitutes, but they are typically working voluntarily. India’s brothels are also unusually violent, with ferocious beatings common and pimps sometimes even killing girls who are uncooperative.

Unicef has estimated that worldwide 1.8 million children enter the sex trade each year. Too many are in the United States, which should prosecute pimps much more aggressively, but the worst abuses take place in countries like Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Cambodia.

So I set off with the I.J.M. investigator (who wants to remain anonymous for his own safety) into the alleys of the Sonagachi red-light district one evening, slipped into the brothel, and climbed to the third floor. And there were Chutki and three other girls in a room, a pimp hovering over them. Perceiving us as potential customers, he offered them to us.

We demurred but said we’d be back.

The Kolkata police agreed to raid the brothel to free the girl. I.J.M. told them the location of the brothel at the last minute to avoid a tip-off from police ranks. The police casually asked us to lead the way in the raid since we knew what Chutki looked like and where she was kept.

So along with a carload of police, we drove up to the brothel and rushed inside to avoid giving the pimps time to hide Chutki or to escape themselves. With the I.J.M. representative in the lead, we hurtled up the stairs, brushed past the pimp and found Chutki and the three other girls in the same room where we had seen them before.

Two female social workers from I.J.M. immediately began comforting Chutki, who police said was about 15 and looked terrified. They explained that this was a police operation to rescue her, and they helped her put on a robe for modesty’s sake.

Then another of the girls in the room asked if she could be rescued — but a few days later. She explained that if she left now, the brothel-owners would blame her for the raid and possibly harm her grandmother, whose address they knew.

We told the girl that this chance might not come again. She dissolved into tears, wavered and then decided to come out. Then a third said that she wanted to escape as well.

The girls tipped off the police that the brothel-owner was in another building, arranging to sell a new girl named Raya for the very first time, either that evening or the next night. The police hurried off and returned with Raya, a wide-eyed girl of about 10 years.

It seemed that the brothel had purchased Raya just a week earlier, after her own brother-in-law tricked her and trafficked her. If the raid had been delayed by a few hours, she might have faced the first of many rapes.

With Raya was a 5-year-old girl who seemed to have been abandoned. Perhaps the brothel-owners were grooming her for sale in a few more years. So we emerged from the brothel with five lives that had just been transformed.

Equally important, one pimp had been arrested and arrest warrants had been issued for two more. There are no quick fixes to human trafficking, but experience in several countries suggests that prosecuting pimps and brothel-owners makes a difference. A study in Cebu, Philippines, found that helping police and courts target child prostitution resulted in 87 arrests over four years — and a 79 percent reduction in the number of children in the sex trade.

We drove the five girls to a police station to fill out paperwork so that they could move into shelters and receive schooling or vocational training. Raya, the 10-year-old who otherwise at that moment might have been enduring her first rape, was giggly and carefree as she pretended to drive the car. She behaved like a silly little girl — which was thrilling.

The venom spewing Kapil provides a reason why Pakistan should maintain the nuclear weapons. The Indians of Kapil's type justify a nuclear Pakistan. It is true if Pakistan has the nuclear bomb in 1971, India would have never dared enter in East Pakistan. Now those weapons are a thorn in India's side. Indians always lied about the number of refugees from East Pakistan.

Indian hypocracy was evident when due to Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused over 5 million refugeese to leave Afghanistan and India did not say a word against Soviet Union. WHY? Becuase Soveit Union was helping India with nuclear weapons. If it right for goose then it is right for gander.

Try taking them away and you will not be around to regret it Kapil.

What does an American publication of note do when it wants to run a silly piece on Pakistan? Well of course it finds an 'Indian writer' that nobody knows to hide behind. Most Indian publications would think twice before publishing something so blatantly anti-Pakistan. But an American publication? Any time. Just goes to show how ridiculously anti-Pakistani the American media and establishment have become after the sobering near-defeat in both Iraq and - in our case - Afghanistan.

KAPIL KOMIREDDI's article : Take Pakistan's Nukes, Please does not surprise me. What could you expect from a person of Indian background, whose first Prime Minster Pandit Nehru at the time of partition of India said; Let them have Pakistan. In 3 months time , they will come crawling back to mother India. Even Mahatma Gandhi famously said; I accept the creation of Pakistan but not from my heart.

But I am totally aghast at the horrible anti-Pakistan propaganda coming out of neo-con forums like Foreign Policy Magazine. They have still not realized that USA have very few friends in the world. It is not because people hate Americans but USA policies, which are based on; Shoot first and ask questions later.

This latest piece of anti-Pakistan thrash is not going to serve any purpose but to annoy educated Pakistanis to an extent that has never been seen or heard before.

Coming back to the attack on the Karachi Navel base, and a quick credit taken by Taleban is actually another proof that Pakistan is paying the heavy price of supporting the so-called American war on terrorism. No matter, how terrible Taleban are, they were not involved in international terrorism but took up arms against USA and NATO because these are now de-facto occupation powers in their eyes. Poor Pakistan is attacked because Taleban consider the country as an ally of USA.
I have no doubt that the day, USA leaves, terrorism in Pakistan will stop. Some people actually are openly saying that USA is also training a section of Taleban as a counter weight to China-Pakistan alliance and China’s help in deep sea port of Gawader. India is also deeply involved in helping insurgents in Baluchistan to make armed attacks. So dear Mr. komireddi, try to get more information before writing non-sense that ; “The Taliban's brazen raid on a Karachi naval base shows why the Pakistani state can't be trusted with the world's most deadly weapons.”

Actually any informed reader of FP can quickly see the poisonous intentions of this Indian writer who claims that; “The battle for hearts and minds is over. Moderate Pakistan, if such a thing ever existed, is dead.”.
This kind of foolish statement says all about the mindset of the accuser than the reality of Pakistan. Pakistan's nuclear weapons are not a fruit of basket, which some idiot with long beard and baggy trousers will come and take it in his bag. These are safe guarded by an elite commondo force of 10000. If it was so easy, India and USA would have done that a long time ago.
Kind regards
Bashy Quraishy

I have read in many news papers about this. people often give such an image of Pakistan. I am not sure whether it is true, but i'd like pakistan to be a better state.

My friend Tyler Rueger had once show me a plan for stabilizing a country internally. I do not remember what it exactly involves, but i hope that one day people will want go and do business or live in Pakistan.

It is easy to abuse anyone. it is difficult to lend a helping hand. I dare all of us to be better.

The Muslims of the subcontinent agreed to help the British during WWI because they thought this would help save the Ottoman empire. But of course the English reneged.Very few Pakistanis think or even contemplate ruling India...I would say those who do are delusional...and the same goes for so sázkové kancelá?e many Indians who want to re-create the greater Bharat...which never existed anyway.Nuclear terrorism mate? The only country that has used that card is America. Also, Annie Oakley you go on and state: The West blessed Pakistan's nuclear weapons as a quid-pro-quo for the war against the Soviets.That is so false. The nuclear program was started in 1972 way before the soviets even were in the picture. The US, China, Russia, and France at various times helped to build the program...but because of various sanctions or pressures...most of these countries sázkové kancelá?e stopped helping with the program...which of course led Pakistan to independently pursue it by any means necessary. So, i am not sure what fairly tale you are talking about mate?India probably has more modern slaves than any country in the world. It has millions of women and girls in its brothels, often held captive for their first few years until they grow resigned to their fate. China surely has more prostitutes, but they are typically working voluntarily. India’s brothels are also unusually violent, with ferocious beatings common and pimps sometimes even killing girls who are uncooperative.Unicef has estimated that worldwide 1.8 million children sázkové kancelá?e enter the sex trade each year. Too many are in the United States, which should prosecute pimps much more aggressively, but the worst abuses take place in countries like Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Cambodia.

Personally we should compete with India in everything except fighting and killing. Because of all the negative....all the positives coming out of Pakistan is just overshadowed. It's not some static country...its got so much potential catillnessesandsymptoms. Nuclear terrorism mate? The only country that has used that card is America. Also, Annie Oakley you go on and state: The West blessed Pakistan's nuclear weapons as a quid-pro-quo for the war against the Soviets.