Stop Pretending Pakistan Is Our Friend by Jack Kelly raises some serious questions about Pakistan in the wake of the killing of Osama Bin Laden. It seems possible that we continue to send billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan who is not really our ally but rather our enemy.
It has been speculated for years that the ISI, Pakistan's intelligence agency, is assisting Al Qaeda. It has been reported that the ISI was instrumental in founding and supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan. So it is fair to ask whose side are they on? And Jack Kelly asks questions that I haven't seen asked before. Is the ISI itself a terrorist organization? Is Al Qaeda financed and supported logistically by ISI? These are serious and difficult questions to which we might never have answers but the US had best figure out who is on our side and who is not and act accordingly.
The entire equation is complicated by our need for the Pakistani route to supply our troops in Afganistan as long as they are there and by Pakistan's status as a nuclear power that could fall to Islamists who make it clear that they will not hesitate to use nuclear weapons against us if they had them.
Whatever the outcome of this analysis by our national leaders, I am reminded of this famous quote from the ancient Chinese military strategist, Sun Tsu.
"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."
