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The Pakistan Predicament

By Joe Klein | @JoeKleinTIME | August 24, 2010 | +

Ahmed Rashid, the very best journalist in the world working the India-Pakistan-Afghanistan account, has a comprehensive survey of the situation in Pakistan in the latest National Interest. It seems clear that Ahmed wrote this piece before the monsoon flooding, which has exacerbated–perhaps to the breaking point–all the problems he describes herein. But this certainly is worth a careful read for those who are interested in what is clearly the most dangerous and fragile place on the planet right now.

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  • http://forgottenlord.livejournal.com forgottenlord

    Thanks for sharing that Joe. Powerful and scary stuff….

  • nflfoghorn

    If anything good comes out of it, maybe AQ’s #1 and @2 drowned in the tunnels.

  • pintortwo

    Thank you for linking to this article.
    .
    The (Pakistani) army’s track record shows that it cannot offer political or economic solutions for Pakistan. Indeed, the history of military regimes here shows that they only deepen economic and political problems, widen the social, ethnic and class divide, and alienate the country from international investment and aid.
    .
    I’ll say it because you won’t, Mr. Klein. Our war in Afghanistan and many of its components– billions in military aid and equipment to the Pakistani army, drone attacks resulting in collateral damage and civil unrest, Afghan warlords escaping over the border, pressure on the Pakistani army to attack indigenous Taliban, the general chaos of war– have helped nuclear Pakistan to become “the most dangerous and fragile place on the planet right now”.
    .
    We are all made less safe by the decision to put-boots-on-the-ground, build enduring bases and pursue the counterinsurgency in Afghanistan.

  • sevenoaks07

    Worth reading. I recall some miffed pundits who were not pleased that Christiane Amanpour had this man on in her first This Week program.

    Rashid is worth reading because he is a journalist who is thoughtful and analytical. He is not a follower of the Daily Meme. HarrisdenHei: read this and weep.

  • Ike Jakson

    Joe

    What you need to understand is that nobody can claim that he/she is hundred percent impartial on every point all the time. You have often spoken from the point of view of American interests as an American.

    Why and how do you expect Rashid not to put their case a little stronger maybe than the way in which an American will see it from abroad even if Rashid is the best in the world as you say?

    Be fair, Joe.

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