How partnering with the U.S. could strengthen Pakistan's sovereignty

[abu usama]

The third opportunity we got after 9/11. once again, very unfortunate for us, we've almost squandered it. eight years on, we r passing through 'the worst crisis' of our chequered history. The economic mess, the power crisis,the spiralling prices of the most basic necessities of life, the rampant corruption, the declining value of pak rupee_____ what do these hard & painful facts reflect ! hell of a lot of money poured into this country in 1980s & then in the last eight years yet we are deep down in troubled waters,looking upto IMF & co to rescue us. Strength means ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE, A STRONG INDUSTRIAL BASE, AN EDUCATED & DISCIPLINED NATION and RULE OF LAW INSIDE THE COUNTRY. Neither US nor even a host of our well wishers can provide that strength through their partnerships unless our national leadership shows the dexterity & resilience to pull the country out of troubled waters.Unfortunately our leadership has failed to show the required character and integrity level to come upto the task. This does'nt just apply to the current lot, rather to successive regimes over a long period of time. We have continuously displayed short sightedness, myopic vision & fraility of character at the top level and that has been our failure. I'm reminded of the story my granmother used to narrate, that when a king died he was to be succeeded by the first man entering the city gate in the morning. that is precisely the level of our leadership even today. Their is always a scapegoat available for each of our failures. The US betrayed us in 1965 war, the Indians played dirty and later the seventh fleet of US navy probably took too long to arrive. The west suddenly abandoned us after Russian withdrawal from Afghanjstan, so on & so forth. Partnering with the US has to be exploited to our best interest by the Pakistan govt & establishment and not by the US govt. Every country and nation is supposed to guard its own interests rather than sitting idle with a begging bowl placed in front & blaming all those who are ignoring us & our bowl.(the bowl having a big hole in the middle, connected to our secret pocket) So, the conclusion is that the first prerequisite for finding an honorable place among the strong & respected nations of the world is the STRENGTH OF CHARACTER. This comes through hard work, truthfulness, highmindedness & sincerity. may i end this piece with acouplet from Ghalib "qarz ki peetay thay mae aur yeh samajhtay thay ________ rung laae gee hamari faqah masti aik din.