Readers criticise Pak ad in WSJ; call it a joke

An advertisement by Pakistan in America's leading daily the Wall Street Journal on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks has not gone down well with readers in New York with some calling the ad a "joke". Readers questioned how a country where terrorist Osama bin Laden was hiding safely for years can "claim to be a victim of terrorism".

Readers posted their reaction to the half-page advertisement in 'The Threat Matrix,' a blog of the Long War Journal, which is a publication focused on providing reporting and analysis on the global war on terror.

"This is quite humorous. They could do a hell of a lot for world peace by destroying their plethora of militant groups. Does any other nation have such an inflated sense of self worth (sic)," reads one of the over dozen comments posted on the blog.

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Another reader comments, "It would be nice if you would purge the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence of Taliban/al Qaeda sympathisers, then launch assault into the FATA supported by heavy weapons and armour".

In the advertisement, which has a picture of assassinated former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan asks, "Which country can do more for your peace?".

It goes on to give statistics of bomb blasts, assassination plots against Pakistani leaders and civilian and military casualties that a "nation of 180 million" suffered while "fighting for the future of world's seven billion".

One reader comments, "Still no explanation how Osama bin Laden happened to live comfortably for a decade in a garrison town. Or the Haqqani network or the Quetta Shura, or their fertiliser factory providing the fuel for IEDs in Afghanistan".

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Another says, "a country, which is the epicentre of global terrorism, on record of running terrorist training camps since the 1980s, protecting the Afghan Taliban that kills NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation soldiers, claims to be a victim of terrorism? "

"The sheer audacity of this advert comes from the fact that the Pakistani government and military leaders cannot or do not show any inclination to properly protect(ing) their own citizens let alone the worlds, as they continue to clandestinely support radical and extremist groups at the cost of their civilians lives".

One reader called the ad a "joke" and "downright offensive," saying if there was one day when Pakistan should stop with the "pretence of being our ally, it was yesterday".

He said a newspaper of the stature of the Wall Street Journal should not have published such an ad.

"Is this an ad or acceptance of a failed state? If one is not able to contain terrorism it is your own problem not of others. Pakistan has made a mockery of itself by broadcasting such an ad," read another comment.