US cuts foreign aid to Pakistan by Cherokeetears
The US made cuts to Pakistani aid this week following months of tensions between the two. This means that the US “war on terror” will only be weakened now that it has properly discarded a valuable ally in its pursuit of imperialism. Pakistan has been an unstable arm of the US in the Middle East, and Pakistani interests have often conflicted with the interests of American imperialism.
So what has the US actually done to Pakistani aid? Well, they effectively retracted 300 million US dollars(1) originally invested in the Pakistani military, because they felt that the Pakistani government was not doing an adequate job of fighting “terrorist organizations.” This only displays US imperialism and chauvinism because of what the US defines as a terrorist, many Pakistani citizens would call a “freedom fighter,” in that they fight against foreign invested interests. These are conflicts of interests that the Pakistani government has struggled with, only interested in actively pursuing militants within its own country(2), and clueless as to the presence of Osama Bin Laden on their soil.
The US response to suspicions that Bin Laden was on Pakistani soil was not proper delegation with the Pakistani government, but instead, a secret and covert attack on Pakistani soil. This is a prime example of imperialism and criminality from the US. Because the US was allied with Pakistan, it was only in the interest of imperialism to conduct an invasion of the country without consent from the government itself. It is irrelevant whether a “sensitive situation” was created by the circumstances, the US blatantly violated a law that they would hold every other country too.
In the wake of these tensions, the US has pulled funding. Ultimately this is a victory, because the Pakistani military, unsupported by the US government, will not be as effective in fighting militants, nor will they be nearly as motivated. The move has cost significant political clout with the Middle East, and shows a partiality towards India that Pakistan will come to resent. Maybe someday soon the Pakistani government will be more inclined to join the United Front. Eighty percent of Pakistanis opposed the US pursuit of Taliban in 2007(3) and it looks like the government is starting to recognize and reflect this public opinion in its policies.
The “war on terror” is imperialism in the flesh. It dehumanizes opponents of imperialism and its acting agents. It justifies their lives as less valuable than those of the American. It reflects nationalism to an extent on the level of, or even worse than that of Nazi Germany in that it is a preservation of lifestyle and exploitation of the entire Third World out of a sense of entitlement to capital. It is the commodification of human lives and the reaction to any opposition to that commodification.
Sources:
1)Xinhuanet News: “Could US cuts add strain to shaky ties with Pakistan?”
2) ibid
3)http://feldsparia.blogspot.com/2007/12/most-pakistanis-in-favor-of-al-qaeda.html
NEW POWER 
What is the possibility that Pakistan’s army could become a revolutionary force?
I would argue that it is slim that the Pakistani Military, or government in general will turn towards the United Front anytime soon. I am sure this aid will be restored later, the Pakistani government is a near total puppet of the US. There may be friction now, but in the long term the Pakistani bourgeoisie will still side with imperialism. As to the Pakistani masses though, that is a whole different story.
The state of Pakistan is a puppet for the US government, however the masses of Pakistan are definitely allies of the ICM. Hopefully, we can see an anti-imperialist force rise in Pakistan in the future similar to Iran or Libya.