The Pakistani government fell Saturday after the nation’s supreme courtnullified Prime Minister Imran Khan’s attempt to dissolve parliament. Khanindulged in rampant graft, used anti-Americanism as a crutch, and helpedtransform Pakistan into a de facto colony of China. Unfortunately, Khan isthe rule in Pakistan rather than the exception.
Khan’s failure should spark a fundamental reassessment of U.S. policytoward Pakistan.
Pakistan is, alongside Iran, the leading state sponsor of terrorismlink.It enabled, sheltered, and protected al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Itcontinues to shelter those involved in murdering Americanslinkanddozens of others in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Most recently, Pakistan soughtto humiliate President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken byappointing an openly terror-supporting diplomatlinktobe its ambassador to the United States On an official visit to the U.S.,Khan acknowledged the presence of some 30,000-40,000 armed terroristsoperating on Pakistani soil. This should be enough to designate Pakistan asa state sponsor of terrorism. That the State Department for diplomaticreasons refuses to designate Pakistan a terror sponsor twists reality andundermines the moral authority of the broader state sponsor of terror list.If Biden and Blinken are unwilling to call out Pakistani terrorism,Congress should act, much as Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Scott Perry has proposed.
That Pakistan remains a major non-NATO ally is further evidence ofstrategic incoherence. Put aside that Pakistan openly casts its future withChina and allows the People’s Liberation Army to access any militarytechnology or intelligence that America provides. The real breaking pointshould have come two decades ago when it became clear that Pakistansupported Taliban insurgents. That the Bush, Obama, and Trumpadministrations ignored this basic fact is bad enough. But the fact thatthousands of Pakistani citizens, as well as Pakistani militaryofficers, activelypartlinkilinkcipatedlinkinthe final Taliban sweep through Afghanistan should be grounds for endingits major non-NATO ally status at a minimum.
Pakistan is also falling short on financial transparency. The country hasmade no serious effort to address money laundering and terror financeconcerns raised by the Financial Action Task Force, perhaps believinglinkthatChina will diplomatically prevent serious punitive action.
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The first law of holes states that “if you find yourself in a hole, stopdigging.” For decades, Washington has downplayed the reality of Pakistan.It has accepted Pakistan’s frequent argument that they too have suffered atthe hands of terrorists. While this is true, it is like an arsonistcomplaining about burnt hands. When Pakistanis make the argument, theyshould find doors slammed in their face. Niceties have not convincedPakistan to cease its behavior.
It is time for a new approach. First, revoke Pakistan’s major non-NATO allystatus. Second, both designate Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligenceagency as a foreign terrorist organization and the country itself as astate sponsor of terrorism. Pakistani Ambassador Masood Khanlinkshouldbe declared persona non grata and given 48 hours to leave the country. TheState Department should close its consulates in Lahore, Karachi, andPeshawar. To balance this, the State Department should order the closure ofPakistan’s consulates in Boston, Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles. Inshort, it is time for a policy that ends U.S. strategic incoherence towardPakistan.Source:link