Will The Real Leader Please Stand Up?

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates (ex-CIA) will be arriving in Pakistan tomorrow, the last stop on his visit to the region.

Matters relating to the ongoing efforts to stabilise Afghanistan and rising tensions between Pakistan and India are likely to be discussed when Gates meets the country’s top leadership.

Basically this translates into escalation of old tensions between India and Pakistan and more killing of innocent civilians. The leadership here—as almost everywhere else on the globe—just cannot resist receiving those nice-smelling packets that contain freshly-printed Dollars and instructional pages from the global best-selling novel: How to destroy your country from within in two easy steps.

Gates will meet AAZ, YRG and a few others who do not matter to the citizens of Pakistan, while the top military leadership will only discuss security-related matters.

Sources said Gates would try to convince the Pakistani leadership about India’s ‘greater role’ in Afghanistan, which Pakistan disagrees with.

This means more RAW cells along the Pak-Afghan border and bad eggs turning into suicidal omelettes. India, already involved in ‘development activities’ in Afghanistan, is being eyed by the US for a military role in the war-torn country as well.

India, together with a little help from our American cooks, will only spoil an already spoilt broth. I would advise India to stay clear of this trap if it wishes to prosper; Pakistan could follow the same advice but the results may not turn out to be the same.

Also on the agenda will be discussions on the latest situation in Afghanistan and the effect of increased number of US troops in the country to turn the tide against the Taliban.

All this means continued drone attacks, greater number of ‘high-value kills’ and the resultant escalation of resentment against aggressive American foreign policy.

With the above bit of sad news as the background, just yesterday, AAZ vowed one more time to serve the people of Pakistan and face any and all challenges facing the nation.

“Those who want to learn the politics of the masses and want to be like Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto should be ready to die like him as well... if they want to be like Benazir Bhutto they should stand up like her and face all challenges,” AAZ said while addressing the fourth raffle draw of the Waseela-e-Haq programme at the Governor’s House.

I certainly hope that misleaders from a plethora of faceless political parties will follow this wonderful idea to swing from the gallows of public accountability after having tried to manufacture shoelaces out of the outgoing military dictator’s moustaches. The press failed to ask how willing female legislators might be to ‘stand up like’ Benazir Bhutto did to offer her head for target practise.

Well, I would like AAZ to face the challenge called Gates, coming our way all the way from the murder capitol of the world: Washington. He needs to tell the ex-CIA man face to face to go mind murderous Obama’s business elsewhere on the globe. Once done, AAZ may consult those around him on how to say farewell to us like the creator of the ‘food, clothing and shelter’ pipedream.