Why the hell we ever embraced Pakistan over the far more civilized Indians will always elude me.
India was somewhat loosely aligned with the Soviet Union, as I recall.
Having dangerous enemies can result in the selection of odd bedfellows. Just look at the USA and the Soviet Union in WWII.
India hated Britain because of the colonial experience, and the Soviets anti-colonial rhetoric appealed to them. When Pakistan was partitioned out of India, they jumped at the United States’ offer of alliance. Of course, now that Islamism has creeped into the government, it’s not so much a good idea anymore.
Because the socialist Indians [read:Nehru and the Congress Party] were in love, and bed, with the U.S.S.R.
Personally I think those provinces belong to India, not the breakaway Pakistan, but when you're trying to resupply troops in an entirely different nation, it's not the time to argue it. We're dealing with Pakistan because we have to; it's the simplest logistical solution.
That said, the real problem with Afghanistan continues to be Pakistan. Were it not for Pakistan, there would likely have never been a Taliban in the first place and without their continuing support, the resistance couldn't not exist now. It makes the long term prospects for victory in Afghanistan (at least as defined in terms of the absence of the Taliban) as highly problematic. Our enemies there are no more isolated than were the Viet Cong; they're being supplied and supported from nations with whom we cannot grapple militarily.
BEcause we prefer muslims. We are either muslims ourselves, muslim sympathizers, or afraid of them. Muslim culture gave us the zero, so lets embrace it.
This is sooo typical and reminds me of when I was a kid in the 60s and couldn’t figure out why everybody, all the people in the country loved Israel, but the government was hostile toward them. (Then it was because they were socialist, now it’s because we’re kuffir.)
It was a Cold War thing. Pakistan helped the US bury the Soviet Empire in Afghanistan.
For one, they were on OUR side in the Cold War.