Should the US drop Pakistan?

[TDAS04]

Inspired by the Saudi Arabia thread.

Pakistan receives billions of dollars in aid from the US, including much military aid.  The Bush administration even designated Pakistan as a "major non-NATO ally".

After 9-11, Pakistan became America's "biggest ally in the war on terror", but its reliability as an ally as been questioned, especially after the US unilaterally killed Osama Bin Laden while Bin Laden was living in a compound near a Pakistani military academy.

Is it time for the US to cut off Pakistan?

[Beet]

No. We're better off pretending to get along than officially fighting.

[H. Ross Peron]

Yes of course, India is vastly preferable as an ally even with its horrible new BJP government.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Is ally really the right word these days? It isn't normal for a country that is allied to another country to bomb that country so freely.

[dead0man]

Yes, of course.

[Simfan34]

Unfortunately, they have nuclear weapons. Otherwise it'd really be a no-brainer. We could stop pretending to like them without us having to stop bombing them.

[Indy Texas]

Yes. They stopped being useful once the Cold War ended and the Soviets were out of Afghanistan.

They pretended to be useful again post-9/11 but ended up doing more to help "the evildoers" than us.

Compare women's rights in India and Pakistan. Compare literacy rates. Consider that Pakistan is one of the few countries where polio cases are still reported due to anti-vax foolishness from the mullahs. Does it really make sense for us to consider a country like that an ally?

[TDAS04]

Yes. They stopped being useful once the Cold War ended and the Soviets were out of Afghanistan.

They pretended to be useful again post-9/11 but ended up doing more to help "the evildoers" than us.

Compare women's rights in India and Pakistan. Compare literacy rates. Consider that Pakistan is one of the few countries where polio cases are still reported due to anti-vax foolishness from the mullahs. Does it really make sense for us to consider a country like that an ally?

I agree that Pakistan is not an ally of the US.  What do you say to those who argue that the US should continue to help Pakistan because it's "too nuclear to fail"?

[Bozo the Clown]

Drop them and place sanctions while working with India as an ally. No troop involvement though.

[Mordecai]

Yes, it should have been done a long time ago.

[Never]

It would probably be better to maintain some sort of amiable relationship with Pakistan instead of dropping it. The last thing America needs is another nuclear state as a possible enemy. On the other hand, the United States should always make sure (possibly through covert channels) that its diplomatic relationship with India is stronger than the relationship with Pakistan, and in a significant conflict between the two nations, the U.S. would be better served to side with the world's largest democracy.

[Beet]

If you need to do something in Afghanistan (such as resupply the 10,000 troops, or fight back the Taliban), then you need Pakistan. It may be a lesser developed state than India but it's geographical position ensures it's importance for any case where the US wants to influence Central Asia. There really is no alternative.

[The Mikado]

Why do people suddenly want the US to act like even more of a raging asshole and terminate its diplomatic ties to half the world?  There are all these "drop X" and "drop Y" threads.

[TDAS04]

Why do people suddenly want the US to act like even more of a raging asshole and terminate its diplomatic ties to half the world?  There are all these "drop X" and "drop Y" threads.

The US does not necessarily need to sever diplomatic ties with anyone or go to war.  However, the US should not have to provide billions of dollars in aid and military support to problematic countries with nothing in return.

[AkSaber]

If by drop, you mean cease military and economic "aid" and intervention, sure. Though we need to do that for the entire world, not just the Mid East.

But completely severing all diplomatic and economic ties? No way. That's isolationism.

Non-interventionism ≠ isolationism