Rightsizing of the Armed Forces

I was in and around Vietnam in the mid to late `70s as a sailor. Over there, too, almost every sphere of life in South Vietnam was controlled by their militaries, unlike in the North where the militaries were busy fighting.

Today, many of the Vietnamese military elite of those days are found running restaurants and maybe small shops in the US and some other parts of the free world. I often wonder whether that was an aim or a bye-product?

Incidentally, that was also the first time I heard the slogan ``Yankee go home (but take me with you?)``. I hear it now, again, in the posturing of various communities and expat nationalities in the US.

As for the Pakistani military budget, once the Gulf countries end up paying for the forthcoming ``war``, how much will be left for others?

Riffat:

how can you fault the Army?...

... am afraid you have got it all wrong...in the rest of the world the countries have armies...in pakistan the Army has the country...its barrels and missiles are not meant for an(y) enemy...it uses...blatantly....its force to subjugate the people, parliament and bazaars...

...palestine is not the only occupied territory...pakistan is occupied too!

rgds,

t

//...Putting it bluntly, these somersaults were brought about under blatant American and Indian coercion. And thus one of the Third World’s largest and strongest militaries has proven completely helpless ..... to flout the American diktats and defy Indian ultimatums altogether......//

Ouch... This is clearly below the belt for the apologists for Paki Army. Get ready for the screams and squeaks.

The US Army recruitment posters say: ``The army. Its not a job, its an adventure.``
I guess in Pakistan they can say: ``The army. Its not a job, its a business venture.``
PS: This wasnt the case until a couple of decades back.
PPS: And there are still many fine officers in the Pakistan Army. But the guys adding up plots are not among them.

Well Mr. Jahan, here is justification for a 5 million-strong Pakistan Army.

Urstruly: Please note that the writer is Jewish, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is a Hindu-Jewish conspiracy to support the enemies of The True Faith called the Shiites of Iran.

From the International Herald Tribune:

http://www.iht.com/articles/85731.html

Realignment
Stanley Weiss

NEW DELHI Has the foundation been laid for a stable Middle East and Asia for decades to come? That may well be what happened when India and Iran unveiled a strategic partnership during President Mohammed Khatami`s recent visit here. On the economic side, the two countries need each other. Iran has the world`s second largest natural gas reserves. India is one of the world`s largest gas importers and values Iran`s strategic location as a gateway to Middle East and Central Asian energy suppliers.

On the military side, both fear that Islamic fundamentalists might seize Pakistan`s nuclear arsenal. India will get access to Iranian military bases in the event of war with Pakistan. Iran will get access to advanced Indian military technology. President George W. Bush calls Iran part of an ``axis of evil.`` An anonymous U.S. official warns that the New Delhi-Tehran alliance could ``raise obstacles in our burgeoning defense ties`` with India. But Bush should not allow his loathing for Tehran`s reactionary mullahs to trump America`s need for India or the need to embrace what he calls ``the Iranian people`s hope for freedom.``

He should recognize that India and Iran are the key to regional stability, and join New Delhi and Tehran in an axis of friendship.

Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani tells me that the United States and India are ``the twin towers of democracy.`` Indeed, India has become a major regional power with the ability to advance American interests from Israel to Iran to Indonesia.

Want to promote a peaceful Asia? Then partner with India, a reliable U.S. ally in dealing with North Korea, a growing naval presence in Southeast Asia and a leading candidate for a permanent seat on the Security Council.

And although the dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir attracts global headlines, the primary long-term security concern here is a militarily and economically ascendant China, which occupies a chunk of Indian territory.

Want to show the world`s 1.2 billion Muslims a progressive, hopeful alternative to the medieval vision of Osama bin Laden? Then support secular India, a multi-religious society home to the world`s second largest Muslim population. India`s 150 million Muslims, including the world`s largest community of Shiites outside Iran, instinctively recoil from Sunni-dominated Al Qaeda. Want to simultaneously dampen Pakistan and Iran`s support for terrorism? Then give these nations a stake in regional peace and prosperity, like billions in revenue and transit fees from the so-called ``peace pipeline`` that would connect Iran and India through Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Indian access to Iranian bases encircles and contains Pakistan, fundamentally altering Islamabad`s strategic calculations.

India`s new ties with Iran make it more, not less, valuable to Washington. Both India and Iran fear the Saudi-sponsored puritanical Wahhabi brand of Sunni Islam. When Afghanistan was controlled by the Sunni-dominated Taliban, Iran and India backed the Northern Alliance. Both countries have played a vital role in creating and sustaining the U.S.-$ backed government in Kabul. In the reconstruction effort, New Delhi and Tehran will build a much needed road connecting the Iranian port of Chabahar to the Afghan city of Kandahar. As in Afghanistan, the United States will need Iran to help stabilize a post-Saddam Iraq. Encouraging signs include Tehran`s warm welcome to a recent gathering of Iraqi opposition leaders.

New Delhi will also be an increasing asset to Washington thanks to its military partnership with Israel. It is easy to see why Shimon Peres calls India ``Israel`s best friend in the region.`` Both are secular multi-religious democracies under terrorist attack from Islamic militants. Both are nuclear powers surrounded by hostile neighbors with ballistic missiles.

Bilateral trade has soared, and young Israelis flock to Indian beaches. Israel is poised to become India`s largest arms supplier, and India desperately wants Washington`s approval to buy the U.S.-Israeli-built Arrow missile defense system. Like its new economic and military partnership with Turkey, Jerusalem`s growing ties with India give America`s closest ally in the Middle East an important friend in a tough neighborhood.

Taken together, this web of cooperation portends a historic realignment in the regional balance of power - an alliance of democracies, with India at its center. America should forge its own strategic partnership with India.

The writer is chairman of Business Executives for National Security, a Washington-based, nonpartisan organization of business leaders. The views expressed here are personal.