Uncles Kerry and Lugar

Someone sent me a link to a letter published in 'The News' a few days ago. It seemed like the chain emails one sees floating around Christmas time about the spirit of Christmas and the tradition of giving and sharing. This one seemed like the same sort about the early Christmas gift from the two uncles of the people of Pakistan, namely Uncle Kerry and Uncle Lugar. You can read the article here (http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=202681)

I went through the well meaning article with some amusement. The writer has tried to reason with the seemingly unreasonable people of Pakistan and pleaded with them passionately to not look a gift horse in the mouth. However, like the proverbial road to hell, paved with good intentions, this write-up seems like a half baked attempt at putting lipstick on the ugliest pig of the farm. With due respect to Shakir Husain, it seems like he doesn't even understand the difference between the concept and spirit of exchanging meat of sacrifice with his neighbor or a friend around Eid-Ul-Adha, and the cold reality of a business deal like the Kerry-Lugar bill. This bill is not some form of charity that is being handed out to Pakistan. It is payment for a service that Pakistan is expected to perform to further the interests of the US in the region. Kerry and/or Lugar, even though representing uncle Sam in this endeavor, are not the mamay (uncles) of the Pakistani people, and hence do not have the best interest of Pakistanis in their caring hearts. They have devised a deal which is a payment for the blood and tears, the people of Pakistan are spilling for America's strategic interests. Nothing less and nothing more.

Given what it is, and not going into the nitty gritty details of the deal, overall this stance by both sides is completely understandable and considering this business as usual, both sides are, and should, haggle over the price and the services that are to be delivered in return. That is exactly what is going on right now. The only difference is that this is the first time Pakistan has haggled over the price of the goods being asked for and I think this is good for business overall. Zia made the mistake of not negotiating a good enough price for standing in front of the Soviet bear frothing at the mouth at our western border. The result was a devastated economy, introduction of Kalashnikov and drug culture and the biggest played-with-and-discarded gifts for Pakistan were the trained guerrillas (whom Dan Rather, at the time, while wearing the famous Pashtun Pakol so fondly called the Mujahiddin) with their weapons --and training mind you, who suddenly found themselves out of a job. These chickens had nowhere to go except came back home to roost. Almost two decades or so later, Musharraf made the same mistake and buckled under Bush's threat to side with the US in this never ending Global War On Terror without negotiating a better deal. Wise people had said it even then, that Mushy had sold Pakistan for a paltry sum.

Pakistan army's stance now is that a country that spends $1 Billion a day on it's two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and can spend $20 Billion to replace a couple of helicopters (to be used exclusively by the president) to fly between the white house and Andrews AFB --a distance of less than 10 miles, should not and cannot expect to buy a country of such strategic importance like Pakistan for a paltry sum of $7 Billion over several years. Pakistan is the front line ally in America's GWOT and yet compared to other recipients of US aid, like for example, Israel ($2.8 Billion per year) and Egypt ($1.8 Billion per year), Jordan, Colombia etc etc, which don't do much, other than to create headaches for the US, Pakistan is expected to bring home the proverbial bacon for pennies.

This time around the Pakistan army has wizened up a little and is asking for a better deal before they sign off on it. That's all. If the US was really so concerned for the future of people of Pakistan, they would do something about the rampant inflation, the rising cost of living, and the lack of electricity that is needed to run the industry. Bring a power plant on a ship to the shore of Karachi and supply electricity to the industries that are shut down in the industrial sector. Rebuild the silk weaving factories in the tribal belt which had replaced the gun factories of past. That will be a visible gesture which will create more goodwill for the US than billions upon billions in 'aid' that will invariably go towards maintaining the luxurious lifestyles of our leaders.

If my neighbor sends me some sacrificial meat on Eid-ul-Adha along with a note with stipulations that I can only cook this meat a certain way and at a certain time and how and who can eat it, then I would not even debate the issue, I would send it back with a note saying "Thanks, but no thanks".