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Pakistan no friend: U.S. must show some spine
The minute a Pakistani court imposed a 33-year prison sentence on the doctor who assisted the CIA in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, the U.S. was left with no option but to cut off all aid — immediately.
Pakistan, by its action, declares itself an enemy of this nation — and we cannot, under any circumstances, afford to reward our enemies.
The doctor, Shakil Afridi, 48, has been convicted of treason — for aiding the United States in finding the man responsible for 9/11. Treason. All because he used a vaccination drive to try to gather DNA samples from the compound where bin Laden was hiding. He did not succeed.
But can there be any doubt now that bin Laden was there, in hiding, with the full knowledge and backing of the Pakistani government? For, if that were not the case, why would there be a treason charge?
We have not been able to trust Pakistan for decades. It is time to end the charade.
There must be a price for the Pakistani action — and that price must be an immediate end to all U.S. aid. Pakistan has proven it is no friend to the U.S. And the U.S. has no business providing any kind of financial assistance to its enemies. There can be no middle ground.
U.S. officials have depicted the doctor as a patriot, and have said without equivocation that his actions saved American and Pakistani lives.
A Pentagon spokesman, George Little, said, “Anyone who helped the United States find bin Laden was working against al-Qaida and not against Pakistan.” That is pretty clear. And unambiguous.
And in a joint statement, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the ranking Republican member of the committee, call the sentence “shocking and outrageous” and urged Pakistan to pardon Afridi and release him immediately.
That hasn’t happened. Enough warning has been given. Cut off the aid. Without further ado. All aid. Immediately.
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