Frank O'Brien feels that Imran Khan is the best option for the future wellbeing of Pakistan. Frank O'Brien is a long time resident of Troy, NY, USA, and former head of Clan na Gael in same city, and area.
For too long now, Uncle Sam has relentlessly bombed, shot, and coerced Pakistan in it's so-called War on Terrorism, basically shooting its own self in the foot.
The George W. Bush & Barack Obama administrations have had this idea that since America was "attacked" so dramatically on 9/11/01, that it had a mandate from God to carpet bomb, kill by drone, or rendition anyone, any where, at any time.
In hindsight now, there are a lot of disturbing questions concerning who was really behind the 9/11 attacks, with a lot of evidence pointing to it being an inside job, with bit players[read dupes!] who were used as props so as to be able to point the blame finger at someone other than somebody guilty here in America. Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden and the Taliban were too quickly blamed right after the 9/11 attacks for it to have been true, for it looks like a script was already in hand at the time to point fingers at these particular figures.
Bin Laden, and Al Qaeda were a creation of the CIA, so more questions should have been asked about this connection, and if there were any guilty parties in the CIA, or the larger American intelligence community, and political structure.
Since late 2001, America has invaded and occupied Afghanistan, arrogantly putting in place pro-American puppet governments there, and ravaged the countryside, killing countless numbers of innocent Afghanis, all in its supposed pursuit of terrorists, and Taliban.
Our corporate run mainstream media has bolstered a skewed view of Islam, making Americans equate terrorism with Islam, besides portraying Afghanistan as a backward country, which it is most certainly is not.
Pakistan has suffered greatly too, since it has been used as a staging ground by Uncle Sam in its indiscriminate war on terrorism, and Uncle Sam has for decades manipulated, and driven the political regimes that have governed Pakistan. Thousands of innocent Pakistan civilians have been killed by drone attacks, and the incestuous political parties in power, along with the military strongmen have been complicit by not standing up to these imperialist and neocolonialist foreign interlopers.
Imran Khan founded and heads the Tehreek-e-Insaf, known as the PTI, or Pakistan Movement for Justice, and has garnered tremendous support from the Pakistani people in his fight against corruption, inequality and social justice. Khan is a former cricket player, is a philanthropist, civic leader, and populist politician who articulates a sane alternative to the corrupt politics of other administrations who have ruled Pakistan. He stands up against the racist, imperialist, and neocolonialist policies of the American overlords in Washington, D.C., offering a much better, more equal and beneficial alternative to those who have ruled in Pakistan up till now. He is an enlightened, and cultured man who is proud to be Muslim, and he believes in winning the hearts and the minds of everyone, whether fundamentalist or progressive. He is not afraid to point out where the United States is wrong in its policies towards Pakistan, and Afghanistan, and offers more reasonable, and peaceful alternatives that wouldn't alienate anyone, whether there or in America.
Khan is against the usual nepotism that has thrived in Pakistani politics, believing instead in empowering the average people, and promoting true democracy over the kind of familiar/family connected politics that has gone on before now. He stands for a new kind of relationship to the United States, where Pakistan is sovereign, not beholden to them, but is instead an equal, and a friend.
The International Money Fund has ravaged Pakistan, just as it has those in Greece, leaving Pakistanis in debt, with the ill gotten holdings of Pakistani politicians being outside of the country, instead of invested in Pakistan. The average farmer, and citizen in Pakistan knows who the IMF are, and know how lopsided the relationship has been between them and this Western oligarchical system. Khan would renegotiate the terms with the IMF, hopefully being able to wipe away the debt that burdens the Pakistani people, and maybe being able to get the secret assets of former corrupt politicians frozen, and then channelled back to the average people.
Khan stands for equal rights, and a kind of genuine and fair democratic socialist government, similar to the kind Bernie Sanders promotes. Imran is the progressive choice for a truly democratic, and socially just Pakistan, and he is right that Americans need to learn more about Islam, its tenets, its sects and that it is really a peaceful religion, with no more extremists than there are Christian extremists in America.
We Americans need to get off of this arrogant double standard we've had when looking at Islam, portraying it wrongly, and we need to stop being so hypocritical, and thinking ourselves better than those in Pakistan, Afghanistan and else where in the world. When dealing even with terrorism, we must be respectful of the rule of law in countries like Pakistan, and not be sending drones out to kill supposed opponents in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
What we should have done in the situation with Osama bin Laden, is cooperated with the Pakistani Army, and ISI, and together raided his house, and tried to capture him alive. The way the Navy SEALs went in harum-scarum, and on their own, killing bin Laden, and his entourage, was arrogant, and foolish to the extreme. It was an insult to the sovereignty of Pakistan, and its people, and has set back relations a good amount. We need to also stop "disappearing" people we think are enemies, renditioning them off to Guantanamo Bay, or any of the other secret CIA run secret prisons all around the world.
These actions along with the indiscriminate killing of Pakistanis and Afghanis, only promotes terrorism, or more appropriately the resistance that such arrogant actions will garner us. We must work with Pakistan, and Afghanistan, to be rid of the opium epidemic, and not be covertly supporting it to then be funneled into a covert black ops slush funds.
Imran Khan is the future, and the only sane alternative to the politics as usual in Pakistan, or its military juntas. Here is to hoping that Imran Khan, and the Tehreek-e-Insaf win a majority soon in Pakistan, guiding Pakistan into a better economic, socially fair and just future, and on an equal footing with my unfortunately arrogant, and pig headed country.
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Nothing here i agree with. I usually stop reading whenever i see 9/11 troother nonsense but i have to say a couple of things. If Bin Laden wasnt behind 9/11 why do you say US shouldve cooperated with Pakistan to kill him? And sorry Islam is not a religion of peace. It calls for the beheading of kaffirs. You and i. If islam is no more extreme than other religions why are almost all religious violence carried out by muslims?
ReplyDeleteRead the Imran Khan biography a year or two ago. Enjoyed it although found it bonkers when he went into his religious belief.
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