Saturday, April 7, 2012
With Friends Like These....
Just days after the U.S. announced a $10 million reward for his arrest and conviction, Pakistani terrorist leader Hafiz Saeed held a press conference in Rawalpindi, Pakistan to mock the reward, saying the U.S. knew where to find him and that he was willing to face any court in Pakistan or internationally. It should be noted that Rawalpindi is a "garrison city," one which is controlled by the Pakistani military, so nothing goes on there without their consent, especially a press conference attended by dozens of international reporters.
That leads to the oft-repeated question of whose side the Pakistani military is on. Clearly, they see India as their mortal enemy, not terrorists like Saeed, who is alleged to be the mastermind of the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai which killed 164 and wounded more than 300. That press conference, and the fact that bin Laden's compound was located in Abbottabad -- Pakistan's equivalent of West Point -- leads to the troubling suspicion that the Pakistani military has decided to throw in its lot with terrorist organizations.