Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Two Bad Bargains

The New York Times' foreign affairs columnist Tom Friedman weighs in with a look at the bad bargain in Saudi Arabia and another in Pakistan. He is stretching a little to call what happens in Pakistan a bargain.

The Pakistanis worry about defending against India, which has zero interest in invading Pakistan. Pakistan, on the other hand, would seriously love to invade and liberate Kashmir, currently part of India.

Inasmuch as India has nearly six times Pakistan's population and much more and richer land, Pakistan's wish to defeat India in battle is no more than a dream. Chasing that dream, the Pakistani army makes common cause with violent radical groups in Kashmir and Afghanistan.

The "bargain" he describes in Saudi Arabia between the al Saud tribe and the Wahhabi ultra-jihadist branch of Sunni Islam seems to more accurately fit that description. Each enables the other, oil money supports both of them, and together they are a problem for the West.