11/7/2009 10:00:00 PM ERAU expert: Bin Laden's power remains strong
Joanna Dodder Nellans/ The Daily Courier Pakistan stopped trusting the United States when the U.S. decided to stay out of the 1965 war between India and Pakistan, Phil Jones said: "They felt deeply betrayed and have never trusted the U.S. since."
PRESCOTT - A top Pakistani expert and Prescott university professor said Thursday that he believes Osama bin Laden is running the Muslim extremists' fight against Pakistan's military.
Phil Jones, chair of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Global Security & Intelligence Studies Department, was among the speakers at ERAU's 5th annual National Security and Intelligence Symposium Thursday.
The theme was "The Challenges for Homeland Security in the 21st Century." Panelists throughout the day included FBI agents and Congressional aides.
Jones' talk was titled "Pakistan: A U.S. Security Dilemma."
Jones also agrees with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's assertion that Pakistani officials know where Bin Laden is hiding out and could get him if they wanted to.
Jones specialized in the political and military stability between India and Pakistan while working for the CIA. He was raised in India, taught in Pakistan, and is fluent in Pakistan's national language of Urdu.
He spent much of his talk explaining the history of Pakistan.
Pakistan came into existence as an Islamic Republic in 1956, split off from India. From day one, it has seen India as a security threat, Jones noted.
Since Gen. Ayub Khan's coup d'état in 1958, Pakistan has been controlled by the military, Jones said. It brought in nuclear weapons and expanded its Inter-Services Intelligence to manipulate politics.
The U.S. and Pakistan became major allies during the Cold War in the 1950s, when the U.S. started heavily supplying Pakistan's military, he said.
But Pakistan stopped trusting the United States when the U.S. decided to stay out of the 1965 war between India and Pakistan, Jones said.
"They felt deeply betrayed and have never trusted the U.S. since," he said.
The Soviets' 1979 invasion of Afghanistan brought Pakistan and the U.S. back together somewhat, he said. After the war ended, Pakistan helped nourish the Taliban there.
When al-Qaida attacked the U.S. on 9/11, many Muslims thought the U.S. "got what was coming to it," including much of Pakistan, Jones said. Pakistan has the second-largest Muslim population in the world. The Pakistan government tried to take the middle ground by being "overtly compliant" to the U.S. while maintaining Taliban support.
But Pakistan opinion now is shifting away from the Taliban as it continues fighting there, he said.
"The Taliban was nurtured by the (Pakistani) Army, so now it is up to the Army" to stop the Taliban, Jones said.
The U.S. is trying to keep the Pakistani Army fighting the Taliban, and "that's about the best we can do," he said. The U.S. continues to give Pakistan billions of dollars each year, although some of that money is going where we don't want it to, he said.
At the same time, India is putting billions into projects in Afghanistan, including money for a road from the heart of Afghanistan to an Arabian Sea port.
Pakistan sees this as a threat to its very existence, Jones said. Both Pakistan and Indian have nuclear arms.
Pakistan is the only Muslim-majority state with nuclear weapons. The U.S. has given Pakistan technology to secure those nukes, Jones said.
"Our people believe that the Pakistan nuclear arsenal is safe in the hands of the Army," Jones said.
Reader Comments
Posted: Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Article comment by:
Herman
A Bin Laden expert? This is the same as a Big Foot sighting. People want to believe in it....but it just doesn't add up.
Posted: Monday, November 09, 2009
Article comment by:
Yo, boogeyman, where's the body
DNA and the latest forensics would tell us if old Bin is still with us or not.
Posted: Monday, November 09, 2009
Article comment by:
HONKY MARINE
Well if Bin Laden wants to destroy America, he better hurry up before Obama beats him to it.
Posted: Sunday, November 08, 2009
Article comment by:
Boogeyman
bin Laden was killed in December of 2001 at Tora Bora.
Posted: Sunday, November 08, 2009
Article comment by:
Freedom4All
September 11, 2001 was a LIE!!! The NWO is the real terrorist's.
Posted: Sunday, November 08, 2009
Article comment by:
honkybrujo
In case you teabaggers don't know Bin Laden was directly responsible for the events of 9/11. Your hero the "Shrub" ignored him for the last seven years of his term and allowed him to grow in power and threaten the stability of Pakistan. As always it takes a Democrat to clean up the mess left by the Republicans.
