Americans may think that the failed Times Square bomb was planted by a man named Faisal Shahzad. But the view in the Supreme Court Bar Association here in Pakistans capital is that the culprit was an American "think tank."
"People want simple explanations, like evil America, Zionist-Hindu alliance," said a Pakistani diplomat, who asked not to be named because of the delicate nature of the topic. "Its gone really deep into the national psyche now."
One of those pundits is Zaid Hamid, a fast-talking, right-wing television personality who rose to fame on one of Pakistans 90 new private television channels.
the Keith Obermann of Pakistan
He uses Google searches to support his theory that India, Israel and the United States -- through their intelligence agencies and the company formerly known as Blackwater -- are conspiring to destroy Pakistan.
See! It sez so in Counterpunch!
The problem is more than a peculiar domestic phenomenon for Pakistan. It has grown into a narrative of national victimhood that is a nearly impenetrable barrier to any candid discussion of the problems here. In turn, it is one of the principal obstacles for the United States in its effort to build a stronger alliance with a country to which it gives more than a billion dollars a year in aid. |