Gareth Porter on the new book by recently murdered Pakistani journalist Saleem Shahzad.
Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban Beyond Bin Laden and 9/11
War in Context
… with attention to the unseen
Over the years I have been reading them in Asia Times Online, Sayed Saleem Shahzad’s reports always consistently followed the line Gareth Porter highlights in his Atol review. The US view of Afghanistan and Pakistan has always been 180 degrees out of phase with reality.
It still is. The US jubilation over the death of Bin Laden was as ridiculous as the George Bush idiot cowboy responses to 9/11. Bin Laden’s biggest contribution to his cause of ongoing hostility between the US and the people it hopes to use in Asia and the Middle East has been his becoming a martyr. He is now an immortal enemy of the US.
Killing of Saleem Shahzad was a brutal murder, it had not and would not serve the purpose of those who had done it. It will further thicken the cloud of doubt prevailing over the US Pakistan relationship.
Both Pak and US have to be fair to each other if they really want to bring peace in the area, the way they are presently working will not solve the problem but will further aggravate it.
The world at large has to find the root cause of trouble, cutting of tree from top will flourish it more, removal of roots will only eradicate the terrorism.