nForce
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you seem to be implying that pakistan had a choice
it had no choice during the cold war and it had no choice post 9/11, thats because pak has never had a leadership with enough of a spine to say NO to the west, if you say no you can see the fate or iran yourself in how they have become a pariah state
india is another story, it cannot be bullied into conflicts
As touched on above, we had no choice due to our strategic disposition to become embroiled in the Soviet occupation. If the Red Army is next door, you don't want them banging on your door next. We were compelled to protect our territory.
What we weren't so good at (and we haven't been post 9/11), is how to extract maximum gain for our services. We've been exploited, but haven't done well economically out of it as we should've.
And there was no way we were not going to take part in the WoT. The pressure we were under was unlike any we'd seen before. Factor in India saying "we'll help you Sir", and we weren't in a position to sit on the sidelines. An ugly necessity.
I agree with both of you that Pakistan had no choice when time came to make the choice,whether in case of involvement in Afghanistan against Soviet invasion or the US-led War on Terror.
What I am trying to point out,is a chain of events led Pakistan to make these harsh choices.
While India stayed out of any kind of military alliance,Pakistan,back in the 1960s under the rule of Ayub Khan entered into global military alliance with U.S. against Soviet Union.While the short term goals were met,as aid started flowing from the West,and industries
developed rapidly,but with this step,Pakistan actually narrowed the scope for a more global exposure.please notice the fact that at this time,Pakistan was under no direct threat by Soviet union.The deal for military alliance was done for the sake of economic benefits,and the objectives were nonetheless met.
But a military alliance with a super power,against another super power has its consequences. It was during this time,back in the 1960s, that Pakistan first let the US to use Pakistani Airbases.Pakistan let USAF establish communications monitoring facility near Peshawar at Badaber and use its air space and air bases to conduct high-altitude spy-flights over the USSR.The cold war was at its peak at that time.
Then came the famous U-2 spy plane incident.The USAF U-2 spy plane that was shot down on May 1 ,1960 over Soviet airspace,had actually taken off from Peshawar before entering Soviet Airspace.It did not take long to find out the roots of origin of the plane.This was a direct act of hostility by Pakistan against the USSR.It was from this time that Pakistan came in the bad book of the Soviet.
The military relations of Pakistan with US grew over the time,with the US pouring in military hardware.When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979,by that time the theatre was already set,and the decisions taken in the past were dictating the present.At this time,Pakistan was in fact threatened by the Soviet presence in its immediate neighbourhood,as Pakistan was already too much militarily involved with US and created a bad relation with USSR,following major incidents like that of the U-2 and numerous other minor incidents.
Henceforth,at this point of time,Pakistan had no choice but to directly support the US interests in Afghanistan.Well,we all know the aftereffects.While the US interests were served,they left as soon as their objective was met,leaving Pakistani border regions in a mess,unimaginable amount of military hardware in the hands of the mujaheddin,with virtually no body neither controlling them nor disarming them.As we can see now,the Frankenstein's monster is still haunting the World in general and Pakistan in particular.
Now as you may perceive,that choices were always there,provided right choices were made.This is just a single example.Lots of other geo-political factors are also there.But,an online forum has its own limitations.Perhaps we can meet face to face someday and discuss these issues,make South Asia a better place to live.What do you say???