Pakistan elite talk up imminent US invasion

[AWP]

Pakistanis should ask themselves: If our country is so great, why do our citizens flee to work as virtual slaves in other countries like Qatar and the UAE?

 

[Devildoc]

Pakistanis should ask themselves: If our country is so great, why do our citizens flee to work as virtual slaves in other countries like Qatar and the UAE?

...because it is a shithole*

*cross-thread points

Like every other ME/near east country that slid from moderate government to hard-line theocratic rule, Pakistan has turned into a country that is hostile to most of its own population and to nearly every outsider.

 

[Gunz]

Huh. Wonder how many times per day the good doctor regrets helping US.

Doctor who aided hunt for bin Laden languishes, forgotten

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Shakil Afridi has languished in jail for years — since 2011, when the Pakistani doctor used a vaccination scam in an attempt to identify Osama bin Laden's home, aiding U.S. Navy Seals who tracked and killed the al-Qaida leader.

Americans might wonder how Pakistan could imprison a man who helped track down the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. Pakistanis are apt to ask a different question: how could the United States betray its trust and cheapen its sovereignty with a secret nighttime raid that shamed the military and its intelligence agencies?

The article is misleading. The vaccination scam was the brainchild of the CIA and Afridi was recruited by representatives claiming to be with "Save the Children." They were not. He did not know of the CIA connection, nor did he know that the vaccination campaign was connected with the hunt for Bin Laden. After the Abbotabad raid, his "Save the Children" campaign co-workers and contacts simply unassed the AO and he was left holding the bag. It was only then and in subsequent days that he realized he'd been a pawn in the game and had unknowingly helped the U.S. His arrest and incarceration was the feeble reaction of a compromised, corrupt and highly-embarrassed Pak government. It is unfortunate.

In many ways it reminds me of the Saddiqi character in the movie "Body of Lies."

 

[CQB]

...because it is a shithole*

*cross-thread points

Like every other ME/near east country that slid from moderate government to hard-line theocratic rule, Pakistan has turned into a country that is hostile to most of its own population and to nearly every outsider.

You can thank Zia-ul Haq for that.
BTW there’s an interesting BBC podcast regarding Benazir Bhutto online for a bit of interest.
The Assassination - Downloads - BBC World Service