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Showing posts from January, 2018

The price of denial

The year, 2017, turned out to be quite tumultuous in terms of political events in Pakistan. The new year did not start on an encouraging note either. Donald Trump's first tweet in 2018 was about Pakistan. He tweeted: "The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!" One can say that this was not unexpected. In August 2017, President Trump had warned Pakistan. He had said: "We can no longer be silent about Pakistan's safe havens for terrorist organisations, the Taliban, and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond... Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in Afghanistan. It has much to lose by continuing to harbor criminals and terrorists." Trump's tweet about Pakistan, that too his f