The fine art of US-Pakistan diplomacy: "We will bomb you back to the stone age!"

[Violet Oboe]

Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf told CBS ´60 Minutes´ that deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage threatened Musharraf´s ´intelligence director´(probably the ISI chief Lieutenant General Mahmood Ahmad or after his enforced retirement on 8.10.01 Lieutenant General Ehsan ul Haq) with the remark: " We will bomb you back to the stone age if you do not help us in our war on terror!".

Interestingly Armitage only disputed the language but did not deny that the message was a strong one! (Perhaps this should mean: Hey I had to tell to this muslim paki boof some things in plain language!)

What raises my curiosity is: Why makes Musharraf this instructive episode of classic US bully diplomacy public during his visit in the US? What impact will this have back home in Pakistan?

P.S. What threats are left for Iran? e.g.: "We will bomb you back to the jurassic with our thermo nukes if you do not comply with our demands!"

 

[Diving Falcon]

Back then there were three things for Pakistan to consider;

3) A relatively mediocre missile program compared to 2006.

2) Very little economic and strategic value as compared to 2006.

1) Most importantly; there was a U.S carrier and probably a B-1 squadron waiting outside our frontdoor. I doubt that many countries in Pakistan's situation back then would have thought back then that the U.S would have issues in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Back then, it was pretty obvious that the U.S gave Pakistan an ultimatum. Regardless who the leader may have been, Qazi, Sharif, Bhutto, Imran Khan, etc, we'll still be in the same situation today.

 

[FreeAsia2000]

I'm amazed at Musharaf what the hell is he thinking?

He's just put the world on notice that Pakistan will give in
to blackmail and threats. Appeasement is like wood to a
fire.

Let me guess the Americans have said no to the F-16's and
he's going to have to explain it to the army so he opens his
mouth and dhaal comes out.

 

[The_Zergling]

So much for the "Coalition of the Willing."

Realistically I think that Musharraf has slowly begun to realize that more often than not countries that are friendly or at least sympathetic to the United States tend to get stabbed in the back, especially when the cultures are "foreign" to those in charge. Take the example of Iran. The generation of the Shah aside, after 9/11 there were actually huge candlelight vigils for the victims held in Iran, many were sympathetic to how the US was feeling. Then out of the blue Bush groups then with the "Axis of Evil".

Understanbly it's a WTF? reaction. They're thinking, "Hey hey, Pakistan had a hand in starting up Al Qaeda and what not, and they get to have nukes, and now they're your friends? Now we're part of the Axis of Evil?"

Save for Britain and some other countries that have never refused to participate in some arguably immoral military operations, many countries (most notably in the last 50 years) have a bad taste after dealing with US foreign policy, in the end there are no "allies".

It's arguable that he's trying to establish Pakistan's position as not being another puppet of the administration, as that tends to look pretty bad nowadays and will for many years to come. I mean, you have to draw a line somewhere. I'd say protesting when your "beacon of freedom" ally threatens you like that is a good place to draw it.

 

[crazyinsane105]

The fact that Musharraf has said this right before the visit with President Bush is nothing but a clear message: Pakistan is no longer willing to America's puppet as it had been in the past. Pakistan's missile and nuclear program has advanced quite considerabely in the past several years plus the fact that Pakistan has delayed the F-16 deal again is showing severe strains in the US-Pakistan "alliance." With the US bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan plus accustions that the CIA was behind in the funding of Baloch terrorists has emboldened both Pakistan and Iran. The next several years will be very interesting indeed.

 

[Diving Falcon]

I'm amazed at Musharaf what the hell is he thinking?

He's just put the world on notice that Pakistan will give in
to blackmail and threats. Appeasement is like wood to a
fire.

Let me guess the Americans have said no to the F-16's and
he's going to have to explain it to the army so he opens his
mouth and dhaal comes out.

Talk about throwing shit at the fan and missing; dude, he just said that Pakistan would be sent to the stone age, Pakistani-Westerners would get their assess kicked even harder and - may I add - Pakistan become another Afghanistan, Iraq. Appeasement my friend is different than sence; back then Pakistan was absolutely no match for the Americans - today its only a tiny bit different.

 

[Webmaster]

I think the general who gave the message to president exxagerated what was said.

 

[The_Zergling]

I think the general who gave the message to president exxagerated what was said.

Yes, that was noted in the papers but what was most disturbing was that Armitage did not dispute the message itself, only the language used.

Basically that means the intent and meaning's still there. Do what we say or else... no fancy wording or loopholes can disguise how bad this makes the US look to anyone, much less to an ally.

 

[Finn McCool]

In defense of the US, I must say that this was just after 9/11, emotions were high and time was of the essence, and the US wasn't going to take no for an answer.

But really, this just shows how badly Bush era politics have failed on the international scale. Rather than really build rapport with Pakistan, the US goes for the un-thought out quick fix and ends up getting burned in the long term when Pakistan decides to put US requests at a secondary priority level and get closer to China. The same is true of Iran. There is a lot of bitterness towards the US there because of the axis of evil speech (which caused more WMDs to be produced than it ever stopped. Think about it. One axis of evil country has been invaded and had none, the other two now have or are making the bomb.) as well as the US invasions Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm sure that Iran feels encricled.

 

[IDonT]

I'm amazed at Musharaf what the hell is he thinking?

He's just put the world on notice that Pakistan will give in
to blackmail and threats. Appeasement is like wood to a
fire.

Let me guess the Americans have said no to the F-16's and
he's going to have to explain it to the army so he opens his
mouth and dhaal comes out.

He did the right thing to acquice. He is the President of Pakistan therefore his main job is to see the betterment of the Pakistani People. Would you rather he not accept and have Pakistan bomb.

Lets see how it works (remember its 2001):

1.) Pakistan is labeled as the Country that supported the Taleban. Not very hard to tie it with Alqaeda in the media.
2.) US proceeds PAkistani Air Capmpaign. PAF is no match.
3.) What can Pakistan do, retaliate with Ballistic Missiles (nukes)? Against who, no US base is within reached. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and UAE bases are, but a nuke attack there will kill more of those country's citizens than americans. Don't forget that Pakistan will be attacking a sovereign country with nukes.
4.) Now the 4,000 lb bull in the China Shop, India. Do you really think India will not take advantage of the situation? With US support and Pakistan's weakened state, it can easily take Jammu and Kashmir.
5.) US will send Delta Force to Balochistan to help the insurrection their

At the end Pakistan will be isolated, defeated, with millions hungry and cold, its borders and lands invaded or separated...but you still have your honor.