Abu Muqawama on the Pakistani Mindset

Check out this post by Abu Muqawama guest blogger Londonstani about the Pakistani mindset. As I discussed earlier, the dominant mindset, even among the educated middle class, is that nothing is Pakistan's fault and everything should be blamed on India and/or the United States. Key quotes:

1. All of Pakistan's internal problems come from Indian activities run out of Afghanistan. 2. Pakistan's present "democratic" rulers are useless and owe their positions to America. 3. The real story is that the U.S. has failed in Afghanistan 4. London and Washington have a hidden agenda in cosying up to India. 5. The US wants to invade and dismember Pakistan

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Ultimately, at present, the opinion that matters in Pakistan does not see the Taliban as a threat to the state in its own right. Instead it blames the U.S. presence in Afghanistan for inflaming the passions of a "bunch of villagers" that the movers and grovers casually dismiss. 

Asking them nicely to defend their country against the Taliban will not work. We will continue paying Pakistan off handsomely; it would be better to do it in a way that provides an incentive for the educated middle class to be on our side rather than simply bombing the countryside and hoping to kill the Taliban.