This week, among the derp that was John McCain’s death and funeral, the Pentagon quietly cut $300 million in aid to Pakistan. The US a few months ago also advised canceling an IMF bailout package for Pakistan because the money might end up repaying debts owed to China, which could end up causing a financial crisis owing to the Pakistan’s dwindling foreign exchange reserves.

Predictably, the media haz a sad about Pakistan’s continued difficulties. OH NOEZ! PAKISTAN COULD FACE A FINANCIAL CRISIS!

And I’m here, like, “So the hell what? That terrorist-supporting shithole can’t pay its own debts without US dollars? That shouldn’t be our problem.” Perhaps if Islamabad got its financial affairs in order, stopped supporting terrorists and surreptitiously giving a wink and a nod to designated terrorists, prompting the global anti-money laundering body, the Financial Action Task Force, to put Pakistan on its terrorism financing monitoring grey list, they wouldn’t be rattling a tin cup, begging for handouts from the global community to pay its bills.

After all, a FATF grey list means that reputational damage will cause Pakistan to be financially isolated. Who would want to do business with a state sponsor of terror? Why would anyone want to do business in a country known to allow misuse of its financial system by terrorists and organized criminals? No foreign direct investment, higher cost of borrowing, hampered international trade can all result from a FATF grey listing.

But hey, what do I know?

Here’s what I do know: Pakistan is no friend of ours.

In 2011 – years before his White House run – Donald Trump tweeted, what most of us who follow world events already knew: Pakistan is not our friend. And he rightly – in my opinion – continued to brand Pakistan as an adversary when he became President.

Pakistan is hiding and supporting D-Company mob boss and designated terrorist Dawood Ibrahim. Yeah, Pakistan denies it, but frankly, in light of the fact that they allowed Usama bin Ladin to live in Abbottabod for dog knows how many years – right down the street from its elite military academy – those denials ring hollow.

Vindicating India’s position that Pakistan has been sheltering Dawood, the Treasury Department had said he was in Karachi and possessed a Pakistani passport under the individual category. Testifying before the same Congressional sub-committee, Celina B. Realuyo, Professor of Practice, William J Perry Centre for Hemispheric Defence Studies, National Defence University, said a number of recent attacks in Kabul were planned and launched from safe havens in Pakistan. The year 2018 has already witnessed many deadly attacks.

Pakistani intelligence officials knew that bin Ladin was hanging out in Abbottabod. Carlotta Gall confirmed this in the New York Times in 2006, writing that a Pakistani official told her that the US “had direct evidence” that the head of the ISI knew all about it. And it’s not like the gigantic compound didn’t stick out like a sore thumb in a neighborhood of relatively small homes!

And given Pakistan’s longstanding support to extremist militants, why is this even surprising?

Pakistan’s leaders know that without the country’s help, it would be difficult to keep troops in Afghanistan, training them and helping them become stronger and more self sufficient. Pakistan wants a stable Afghanistan, but appears to prefer Taliban tyranny over anything that might remotely push Afghanistan to become a stronger partner to Islamabad’s arch enemy India, so it funnels support to the Taliban and to the Haqqani Network in order to ensure its preferred brand of “stability” there.

Pakistan’s intelligence service ISI was more than likely responsible for planning the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in 2006, with terror group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, having carried out the attack, and satellite imagery confirmed the existence of a terrorist training camp in Pakistan. US officials have also concluded that the ISI had a grubby paw in the attack on India’s Embassy in 2008.

And let’s not forget Pakistan’s efforts to crash India’s currency by flooding the country with counterfeit rupees.

We’ve been fighting this war on terror since we were cravenly attacked in 2001, and as the anniversary of that dreaded day approaches, it’s about time we stopped funding obvious enemies who are working to undermine our counterterrorism efforts?

(Featured photo courtesy of: Aaron Favila, AP)