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Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif prays with the mother of

Major Mujahid Ali Meerani, who was killed in a cross-border NATO attack

last month, at Sharif's residence in Naudero, Sindh province, Dec. 10.

 

 

The Nation, Pakistan

NATO Attack Should Spell the End of Friendly Relations

 

"Pakistan must reconsider - in its entirety - the alliance with the United States. Being an ally has proved to be no protection against unprovoked attack. It is therefore only logical for Pakistan to stop being part of America's war on terror."

 

EDITORIAL

 

December 10, 2011

 

Pakistan - The Nation - Original Article (English)

One among many in Pakistan burning American flags today, after a deadly NATO helicopter attack on a check point near the Afghanistan border killed 24 Pakistan troops, Nov. 29.

 

EXPRESS TRIBUNE VIDEO: Tribune Take: Suspension of U.S. aid 'a case of bad timing,' Dec. 13, 00:02:54RealVideo

On Thursday, Director General of Military Operations [Ashfaq Nadeem, the DGMO] told the Senate Standing Committee on Defence that he believed NATO's November 26 attack on the Salalah checkpost, which killed 24 soldiers, was deliberate. This coincided with the statement of Pakistan Muslim League President Mian Nawaz Sharif, who said that without an apology, there could be no restoration of NATO supply lines. This only added strength to the comment by Jamaat-e-Islami President Syed Manawa Hassan that restoring NATO supply lines, even after an apology, would violate that nation's aspirations. Sharif called for the apology before reporters on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Committee on National Security sent for the details of every agreement made with NATO and the United States.

 

The statements indicate that in certain circles, an apology would be considered sufficient - even though the DGMO asserted that NATO has a poor record of investigating such incidents, which was why Pakistan refused to be part of the investigation in the first place. Although not part of the investigation, the opinion of the DGMO cannot be easily refuted, even by someone within the NATO investigation. That goes for Mian Nawaz and all others in Pakistan.

 

If the government has indeed decided to implement its various resolutions calling for a review of relations with the United States, it shouldn't be so easily fobbed off with apology. He [DGMO Ashfaq Nadeem] claimed that the attack came because such resolutions had been ignored. If the attack was deliberate, as the DGMO asserted, it reflects a belief that Pakistan will continue to obey if a face-saving apology is offered. That unhappy precedent was created last year after another attack, NATO supplies were suspended and then restored after the issuance of an apology.   

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

 

For both sides, there is only one solution to this dilemma: Pakistan must reconsider - in its entirety - the alliance with the United States. Being an ally has proved to be no protection against unprovoked attack. It is therefore only logical for Pakistan to stop being part of America's war on terror. The government may have certain compulsions for keeping an alliance it assumes maintains it in office. But if the price for that is NATO helicopters shooting down Pakistani troops which results in simply apologies, then the game isn't worth the prize. The government must put the national interest above merely partisan ones.

 

 

SEE ALSO ON THIS:
The Frontier Post, Pakistan: Pakistanis Pleased with U.S. Base Eviction
The Nation, Pakistan: 'Sorry' Won't Wash Away NATO Crimes in Pakistan
The Daily Jang, Pakistan: Is Washington Behind Pakistan's 'Memogate'?
The Frontier Post, Pakistan: U.S. Withdrawal Plans 'Spell Doom' for Pakistan
The Frontier Post, Pakistan: Karzai Finally Awakens to American Treachery
The Daily Jang, Pakistan:
The Beginning of the End of U.S. in Afghanistan?

The Nation, Pakistan: Obama's Blunt Warning to Pakistan
The Nation, Pakistan: Pakistan Must Break American 'Begging Bowl'
Der Spiegel, Germany: Obama's Plan Reignites German Withdrawal Debate
Asia Times, Hong Kong: Obama 'Puts the Heat' on Pakistan
Telegraph, U.K.: Osama bin Laden hiding place visited by Taliban
Global Times, China: Western Criticism of Pakistan is Wrongheaded and Unfair
La Jornada, Mexico: Afghan Official Asserts: 'Osama Blew Himself Up'
Tehran Times, Iraq: West Uses bin Laden's Death to Distract from Bahrain Atrocities
Diario Decuyo, Argentina: Bin Laden's Death is a 'Call to Arms' for the World's Clergy
El Pais, Spain: After bin Laden: West Must Reflect on Methods of Self-Defense
News, Switzerland: The Pope and the Terrorist: Two Misguided Beatifications
Tagesspiegel, Germany: Osama Photo Issue - Obama's Morally Superior to Bush
The Nation, Pakistan: Afghan Official Asserts: 'Osama Blew Himself Up'
Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland: Finally, It's Beginning of the End for al-Qaeda
Al-Seyassah, Kuwait: Osama Now Being Licked by the 'Hottest Flames in Hell'
Les Dernieres Nouvelles d'Alsace, France: Osama's Photo: 'The Impossible Truth'
Der Spiegel, Germany: Donald Trump and the 2012 'Campaign of Lunacy'
Excelsior, Mexico: Obama Quiets 'Right-Wing Witch Hunters' ... for Now
Izvestia, Russia: Osama bin Laden: From Abbottabad to Hollywood
Frontier Post, Pakistan: U.S. Raid Exposes Pakistan's 'Unnerving Vulnerability'
Al-Madina, Saudi Arabia: Osama Died, But those Who Gain from Terror War Live
Dar al-Hayat, Saudi Arabia: Osama and His Whole Way of Thinking - are Dead
Daily Jang, Pakistan: Operation Against Osama Spells Trouble for Pakistan
Kayhan, Islamic Republic of Iran: Obama Seeks to 'Vindicate Bush'
Outlook Afghanistan: U.S. Must Pursue Mullah Omar as it did bin Laden
Pak Tribune, Pakistan: Senators Call U.S. Operation a Breach of Sovereignty
Frontier Post, Pakistan: Osama Episode Puts Safety of Nuke Assets in Peril

 

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[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US Dec. 14, 6:53pm]

 







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