Why is Pakistan our ally and Iran our enemy?

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OK, the news of Musharraf grabbing emergency powers and suspending the constitution in Pakistan makes me wonder: why do we like this guy, again? Pakistan has nuclear weapons, sold nuclear weapons technology on the black market (the A. Q. Khan scandal), and supported the Taliban government in Afghanistan. Why are we continuing to give the guy billions in military aid? Here's what we've spent:
While the total dollar amount of American aid to Pakistan is unclear, a study published in August by the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated it to be “at least $10 billion in Pakistan since 9/11, excluding covert funds.” Sixty percent of that has gone to “Coalition Support Funds,” essentially direct payments to the Pakistani military, and 15 percent to purchase major weapons systems. Another 15 percent has been for general budget support for the Pakistani government; only 10 percent for development or humanitarian assistance.
Sounds like an American defense industry boondoggle to me. What have we gotten in return? Pakistan's military doesn't seem to be going after Al Qaeda with much gusto. They don't really control the northwestern border areas where we suspect Osama bin Laden is hiding. (Remember him? The Saudi Arabian guy who, unlike Saddam Hussein or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or whoever the right-wing's "Hitler du jour" is, actually masterminded an attack on the United States. And I have to add that the vilification of Ahmadinejad is doubly ridiculous because he doesn't even control Iran's military. The mullahs who actually rule Iran do.)

Maybe Bush just likes the fact that Musharraf suspended the constitution and imposed emergency rule. It's what Bush has been trying to do for some time. (And thanks to a disturbing lack of opposition from Congress and the media, Bush has been far more successful than he should be.)

UPDATE: Devilstower on DailyKos asks the same questions.

Comments

Anonymous said…
And do we even need to mention Saudi Arabia?
11:37 PM, November 05, 2007
Zachary Drake said…
Good point. Where were those hijackers from? Who's funding all those Wahabbist mosques and madrassas all over the place? At least Saudi Arabia doesn't have the bomb, though. Pakistan does.
11:56 PM, November 05, 2007
Anonymous said…
My friends, I don't know what is the problem with you peoples regarding to Pakistan nuclear power.

We have never used this against anyone, we have the modern security system as your countries are using to secure there weapons, we are fighting against terrorism and we lost more peoples then anyone in the world.

Please change your perception against Pakistan because we are fighting without anything just to secure everyone in world.

10 billion in 8 years is nothing if you compare this with your aid to other countries.
2:28 AM, January 14, 2009
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