Prepare to Bomb Pakistan

Re Op-Ed Contributors: Pakistan's Collapse, Our Problem by Frederick W. Kagan and Michael O’Hanlon in today's NY Times: here we go again. Two hawks who argued for us to invade Iraq and want us to stay there indefinitely, are now making the case for the United States to invade Pakistan. It is op-eds like this one which start us down roads which we cannot exit.

As is often the case, we cannot go back in time and implement a different foreign policy. We cannot erase our history of meddling in other countries' affairs. We cannot go back in time and prevent Pakistan from building nukes.

Instead, we must deal with the world the way it actually is today. And that part of the world known as "Pakistan" is a big problem.

Pakistan has 130 million people, five times the population size of Iraq, and probably many times as radical as Iraq, based on the number of madrases which train youth in terrorism, and their support of al Qaeda and the Taliban. Plus, they have scores of nukes.

"It would take a long time to move large numbers of American forces halfway across the world." That's right, but a bigger obstacle is that we don't have any more available troops, thanks to nation-building advocates like Kagan and O'Hanlon.

"And unless we had precise information about the location of all of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and materials, we could not rely on bombing or using Special Forces to destroy them." True. But then two paragraphs later they write "One possible plan would be a Special Forces operation with the limited goal of preventing Pakistan’s nuclear materials and warheads from getting into the wrong hands." How could we do that without knowing the location of the nukes? This is a perfect example of the Alice in Wonderland thinking which underlies our current foreign policy. I wonder how these guys get away with it!

"A second, broader option would involve supporting the core of the Pakistani armed forces as they sought to hold the country together.... This would require a sizable combat force — not only from the United States, but ideally also other Western powers and moderate Muslim nations." Dream on! We don't have the troop strength, no other Western power wants to get muddled there, and why should we trust any Pakistani troops not to turn on us in the near future? Heck, the regular Pakistani army would be attacking us in no time.

"So, if we got a large number of troops into the country, what would they do? The most likely directive would be to help Pakistan’s military and security forces hold the country’s center — primarily the region around the capital, Islamabad, and the populous areas like Punjab Province to its south." I think the authors are in favor of bringing back the draft without actually saying that.

"We would also have to be wary of internecine warfare within the Pakistani security forces." Understatement of the year!

"Pro-American moderates could well win a fight against extremist sympathizers on their own." Not in this world!

"But they might need help if splinter forces or radical Islamists took control of parts of the country containing crucial nuclear materials." Do you think?

"If a holding operation in the nation’s center was successful, we would probably then seek to establish order in the parts of Pakistan where extremists operate." For the uninitiated, that is code for "nation building".

I think it would be a great idea if all the nation-building pundits, starting with these two authors, flew to Pakistan and tried to reason with the Islamic fundamentalists over there. Good luck!

So, let's put this in perspective. We were attacked by Islamic fundamentalists on 9/11. They have indicated several times that they plan to attack us with weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). With the government in Pakistan now in a shambles, and with radical Muslims laced all throughout Pakistani society, we have no choice but to warn them today, before it is too late, that if terrorists get their hands on Pakistani nukes and then use them against us, then we will retaliate against Pakistan with thermonuclear bombs. That, of course, would be the end of Pakistan.

Clearly, the problem in Pakistan today is their own problem. We are under absolutely no obligation to help Pakistan with its governance. If the Pakistanis choose to live in a Middle Ages civilization, so be it. But if any of their nukes are used against us, then Pakistan will cease to exist.

In conclusion, Pakistan had better get its act together. It wanted to have nukes. Now it is in the position of having to guard these WMDs with its very existence.