Pakistan and the US; A Conversation

The President of the United States at the 67 General Assembly of the United Nations:

It is time to heed the words of Gandhi: “Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit.”

The President of Pakistan, at the same podium:

I remember the red carpet that was rolled out for all the dictators in our country - dictators who promised the international community the moon - while Pakistan was kept in the dark. 

These dictators and their regimes are responsible for suffocating and throttling Pakistan, Pakistan’s institutions, and Pakistani democracy. 

I remember the judicial execution of Pakistan’s first elected leader, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. 

I remember the jailing of Pakistan’s elected leaders. I remember the twelve years I, myself spent in prison. 

And I remember the billions provided by the international community to support those dictatorships. 

My country, its social fabric, its very character has been altered. Our condition today is a product of dictatorships.

The whole of President Zardari's speech is worth listening to:



It can be read (as a graphical file) on the UN site at:

http://gadebate.un.org/67/pakistan

or as text on the Associated Press of Pakistan site at:

http://app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=209563&Itemid=1 

On Responding to the "Craziness" Around Insults to The Prophet

Anything that doesn't at least have an internal understanding of the real issue is, well, at best naive. Here's a quote from your and my favorite former ambassador (material not in quotes is mine):

"...the mob violence and assaults should be seen for what they really are: an effort by Islamists to garner support and mobilize their base by exacerbating anti-Western sentiments..." Anyone not keeping that in mind and reacting in a knee-jerk manner, and staying in the frame they have set up is "unwittingly playing along with the ruse the radicals set up."

[quote from:
Manipulated Outrage and Misplaced Fury 
Wall Street Journal September 14, 2012
by Husain Haqqani
accessed at the Hudson Institute's site at
 http://www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=publication_details&id=9253]

Support Pakistani citizens targeted for their faith

This is an initiative by members of Pakistani Civil Society, and I had the honor to contribute in a small way to drafting it.

You'll notice it is written specifically as a reaction to the recent church burning but addresses more than that.

Change.org|The Proven Petition Site