"So why refuse our offer to fence the border?"
I don't recall that we have but, more importantly, it's not our choice to fence your border. Nothing prevents Pakistan from doing so on its side of the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Fence away. Build mine fields if you wish. I personally think it's a bad and unmanageable idea but it's not America's decision.
US generals have always openly opposed this idea in the media. Though, the question still remains why it isn't your choice to assist in fencing the border since it will be in everyone's interest to keep those miscreants from regrouping on the Pakistani side of the border as you always purportedly claim? I don't understand the negligence and reluctance.
"Why insist on killing our innocent sons and daughters at the expense of a handful of miscreants..."
Your notion of "handful" is interesting given that FATAville is awash in these "miscreants". Great swaths of Pakistani land have been functionally seized by these men and there's a very real war being fought.
I don't recall "insist[ing]" that we kill innocents along with the enemy but you'd be insane to believe that your own army hasn't killed an innocent civilian or two in the course of its operations. HELLFIRE is a precision anti-tank weapon. It hits with amazing accuracy that for which it's aimed.
However, I'd encourage Pakistanis not to aid and abet these men. When you choose to associate or co-habitate with them, you are likely to suffer for that choice. In short, don't live near nor stand next to people that are candidates for HELLFIRE.
Have you actually performed a count on the battlefield of how many foreign insurgents are currently present in the Tribal Areas? I mean, you certainly seem like a very convinced man to me. I would be highly appreciative if you could provide me with accurate stats of the amount of insurgents crossing over and operating in the Tribal Areas. That would be very helpful in shaping my opinion on this matter. Though, in my humble opinion, it only takes a few rotten apples to spoil the whole basket.
Would you apply the same logic when the PA was operating drones in the US and killing mostly innocent bystanders? Please answer this question with full honesty. For one moment, place yourself in the shoes of the innocent locals that are facing the drone missiles.
It has been widely reported in your own media that since 2006, analysis indicates,
82 U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan have killed between
750 and
1,000 innocent people. Among them were about
20 leaders of Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and allied groups, all of whom have been killed since January 2008. The rest have been civilians. The accuracy of those hellfire missiles is highly questionable to say the least.
Why do you suspect Pakistanis to aid these men? Who are you to decide where the Pakistanis should live on their own land? How are the locals to identify friend from foe? Who is the enemy and on what criteria does the US differentiate between locals and foe?
"Wouldn't that be helpful in preventing the sanctuaries from being formed?"
You seem not to understand that sanctuary was a choice made by Pakistan back in early 2002. This is an old issue that's finally receiving its just due as the central core issue of this insurgency. Reconciliation of sanctuary as an issue will determine whether Pakistan is welcomed to the family of nations or on the outside looking in along with a select group of others.
That's a fact and it is a reflection of the seriousness of this particular issue. Most Pakistanis have been led to believe that providing our enemy with sanctuary comes with no cost to themselves.
Not so.
Literally everything that's happened to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and America has been a result of decisions to provide sanctuary, to include the taliban's decision to do so for Al Qaeda back in the late nineties. Following 9/11, that sanctuary was no longer respected.
Thanks.
I fully understand that after the Cold War the US decided to pack its bags and leave the mess that they created. What was Pakistan to do in such a messy environment when neighbouring countries exploited the situation? The reason why Afghanistan, Pakistan and the world at large is facing this menace is due to US incompetence and negligence after the Cold War. Had the US not left Afghanistan as an open field for the Mujahideen and instead rebuilt the country we wouldn't be facing this situation today. These are genuine underlying reasons for the current debacle.
The sanctuary debate is very much arguable. Perhaps you're right that some foreign fighters are sneaking in and hiding in these remote places close to the border. That's something totally different to the accusation that Pakistan is providing these sanctuaries with their own hands. Why would the Pakistanis provide shelter to terrorists that are hell bent on wreaking havoc all across the country? Why would Pakistanis provide sanctuary to terrorists that form a security threat? Your statements are quite contradictory in that sense.
