Thank you, Asad Aziz, for your soapbox on Pakistan. Explaining such a complex situation in so little space shows real talent.
You rightly criticize the U.S. government for continuing to support Zia even as he undermined freedoms in Pakistan. Your remarks about the international community would be just as valid if you substituted the U.S. government.
All this points to a problem that the world must face. Ronald Reagan said that the Soviet Union was the Evil Empire. He was right, but so are all empires including the one that the United States has created.
It causes death and suffering in the lands that it conquers as well as an erosion of freedoms in the home country. For more on this, read "Blowback", "The Sorrows of Empire", and "Nemesis" by Chalmers Johnson as well as the long list of books at www.americanempireproject.com/.
David Besser
Fort Collins
Originally appeared in the Ft. Collins Coloradoan on May 18, 2009