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Our Pakistan elites are spoiled by permanent foreign aid and therefore find it difficult to change course. Pakistan needs someone who stands up and says: Fundamentalism is bad, capitalism is good.

Ahmed Rashid

It would have been better if the United Nations had sent a team to Mali right away to mediate between the government and the rebels. But where is the political initiative?
AHMED RASHID

Army Better Country Fighting Government Mail Meditate Team
The Americans make their usual recommendations. They want to train the army for the fight with the rebels. US special forces are already in Mali.
AHMED RASHID

Army Country Fight Force Rebel Recommendation Special
The Afghans can’t point and say, “Oh, the Americans built that road. They built that telecommunications facility.
AHMED RASHID

Built Country Facility Point Road Say Telecommunication
They were communists and had the same vision for Afghanistan that Stalin and Lenin had for the Soviet Union: Progress is communism plus electrification. And today? Today Kabul gets its electrical power from Uzbekistan, Herat from Iran and Jalalabad from Pakistan.
AHMED RASHID

Communist Country Electrical Power Progress Union Vision
I am confident that there are hedge funds, banks or investment companies that could allocate five percent of their portfolios for risky investments. In any event, for countries like Afghanistan the formation of an entrepreneurial class is of vital importance.
AHMED RASHID

Company Confident Country Entrepreneurial Hedge Investment
There was a coming and going of Al Qaeda militants and leaders between Afghanistan and Pakistan for several years.
AHMED RASHID

Coming Country Going Leader Several
There will not be enough soldiers to ensure the security of the country. But will the US still be permitted to kill terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan with un-manned drones? That could worsen the situation in the neighboring states and they could view Afghanistan as a threat.
AHMED RASHID

Country Ensure Neighbour Security Situation Soldier Terrorist Threat
We never had reports of Mullah Omar living luxuriously or making money in large quantities or anything like that.
AHMED RASHID

Anything Large Living Luxury Making Met Money Quantities Report
George W. Bush and Tony Blair made the promise that they would not tolerate failed states because they could become a haven for terrorists. And today? The number increases.
AHMED RASHID

Failed Increase Made Number Promise State Terrorist Tolerate
Pashtun nationalism is reasserting itself. Its political history spans several hundred years.
AHMED RASHID

Army History Hundred Nationalism Political Several Span Two Year
And China is not keen that the U.S. should be so close to its borders over a long period of time. Certainly, if the U.S. is going to be there for a long time, it’s going to exacerbate regional tensions.
AHMED RASHID

Border Certainly Country Going Long Period Tension Time
Some Pakistanis fought for the Taliban. Pakistani extremist groups provided infrastructural support to Al Qaeda. There was a coming and going of Al Qaeda militants and leaders between Afghanistan and Pakistan for several years.
AHMED RASHID

Cities Country Extremist Group Provided Support Year
The West would be well advised to change its approach towards failing states. At present, no major power can find the correct ways and means – and the numbers of failing states are increasing.
AHMED RASHID

Advise Approach Change Falling Mean Promise State Toward War West
Now the United States has to ensure that Afghanistan does not immediately collapse after being left to itself in 2014.
AHMED RASHID

Being Collapse Country Ensure Immediate Left
[Mullah Omar] gave himself this religious title. So it was something that all those people there who swore an oath of loyalty to him as a religious leader could not easily get rid of.
AHMED RASHID

Loyalty People Religious Something Title
The Bush administration thought that once there is a democracy, everything else will fall into place. If today you speak to the architects of the 2001 Afghanistan Conference in Bonn, they will tell you that instead of being fixated on elections.
AHMED RASHID

Administration Bonn Conference Democracy Election Everything Fall Into Speak

Our Pakistan elites are spoiled by permanent foreign aid and therefore find it difficult to change course. Pakistan needs someone who stands up and says: Fundamentalism is bad, capitalism is good.

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Our Pakistan elites are spoiled by permanent foreign aid and therefore find it difficult to change course. Pakistan needs someone who stands up and says: Fundamentalism is bad, capitalism is good.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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