Senator Obama's response to a hypothetical question about attacking Osama bin Laden within Pakistani territory, even without the Pakistani government's consent, has become the imperialist litmus test question of the primary season. While it is clear that the question was intented to test whether the intellectual Obama knew how to "get tough" in foreign policy, his answer was a bit more blunt than anyone expected. As the question has now been asked of almost all the major candidates, they have all more or less displayed their imperialist credentials.

Today we hear that Pakistan would treat any such attack without its permission as an invasion. I think it is good to see Pakistan respond forcefully to defend itself from this hypothetical imperialism.

Personally, I was appalled to see a candidate as smart as Obama respond the way he did. Pakistan is a nuclear armed state with the capability to hit US forces in Diego Garcia and Afghanistan. What is the use of a credible nuclear deterrent if it cannot deter American presidential candidates from their imperialist fantasies? In any case, Pakistan is generally compliant to its patron. The question could have been easily restated or answered more subtly.

In part this willingness to fantasize about attacking Pakistan reflects the impact of the discourse on failed states. The misperception that Pakistan's sovereignty can be trampled upon to achieve American objectives is based on a faulty understanding of the level of coherence and capacity that persists within the state despite some spectacular events in recent months.

Labels: failed states, imperialism, pakistan