America’s manifest destiny is to exist as the land of the free. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan also has a manifest destiny etched into its constitution – to exist as the land of pure Islam, with no room for infidels (non-Muslims). Pakistan’s raison d’etre goes against everything that America stands for.

Sadly, there is an American entity caught on the wrong side of this confrontation – the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA has always run a parallel and uncontrolled American foreign policy.

Once the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, the CIA taught Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) the art of running low-intensity proxy-wars with small cells of terrorists, and graced this ungodly operation with $3.5 billion in cash and arms. The Pakistanis used these resources to shape its Islamic students (talib) into a fanatical army (Taliban), trained them, and set them loose in Afghanistan and Kashmir.

When the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan ten years later, America could have disarmed the Taliban by buying back their arms for a few million dollars and helping them setup small-scale industries. Instead, the CIA simply walked away from a hell hole of their own creation and let Islamic terrorism ferment to the point where it struck back at its own creator, the United States of America. Afghanistan’s explosive mixture of religious fundamentalism and well-trained militias has finally culminated in the World Trade Center attacks.

Currently, Pakistan is $30 billion in debt to the United States. Now, in exchange for handing over Osama bin Laden to the UnitedStates, Pakistan is asking for loan forgiveness. If the United States makes a gift of another $30 billion to Pakistan, America will be funding the rise of a “Super-Taliban,” one whose capabilities would be too dreadful to even contemplate.

Today we see Pakistan on the brink of internal collapse. The majority of its military officers are hard-line Islamists or Islamic sympathizers. Pakistan has also declared its nuclear weapons to be the “Islamic Bombs.” This is the time to disarm Pakistan of its nuclear capabilities. Today it may cost a billion dollars. In ten years, it may cost us Long Island.

In one stroke, America can address the safety of its own citizens and the stability of Pakistan. America must undertake a long-term pro-active strategy – replace Pakistan’s nuclear weapons with an American security umbrella. This will safeguard American lives. This will also address Pakistan’s willingness to use nuclear weapons to solve the Kashmir problem.

We should take a pro-active approach towards this scourge of Islamic fundamentalist related terrorism. We should encourage Pakistan to close down its madrassas (religious schools) – the major supply for Taliban cadres. We should encourage moderate forces in Pakistan to rid itself of fundamentalist army officers (the thought of nuclear weapons in the hands of these extreme elements in the Pakistani army is a real danger). We must wake up before it is too late.

Biswanath Halder

Cleveland