When Uncle Sam can't convince a stubborn Pakistan to give back their man Davis, then it's time to turn to the Saudis for help. After all, the Sheikhs claim to be the kingmakers in Pakistan. Given that the Saudis are increasingly nervous about grassroots agitation destabilizing their regime, especially with Iran also fomenting some of it among Shias in Bahrain nextdoor, it now gives Washington a useful opportunity to obtain some quid pro quo.
It also provides an interesting opportunity to observe which force is more powerful - Pakistani Islamic pride, or Pakistani Islamic rentability to the wahabbis down the street. For their toadying politicians, it will of course be the latter, but how will ISI feel about it?
The undeniably huge ego of Pakistani national pride will of course be badly wounded, but at least this will provide a timely reminder to Pakistanis of how much they have to be humble about.
1 comment:
I wonder if India factors in Pakistan's military alliances with the Gulf states and the Saudis. The latter have a $60B arms deal with the US that includes advanced fighter jets and military helicopters. There aren't enough Saudis inclined to enlist, as that would take them away from their sybarite lifestyle that they so enjoy. And it will be Pakis who end up flying and servicing these advanced weaponry; and getting the training that will be handy for their next military adventure against India. Similarly, it was reported that the much hated Bahrain police and army were made up mostly of Paki Sunnis who had no qualms about terrorizing the Bahraini Shia majority. It is likely that Paki ex-servicemen get commonly employed by Arab Sheiks as useful outsiders hired to brutalize their subjects.
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