In his article “Now the secular Taliban” (Oct 23), Jawed Naqvi writes, “(Tariq Ali's new book) insinuates that Osama bin Laden is alive and is regarded by the Pakistan army brass as “the goose that lays the golden eggs” and therefore is indispensable”. If they do hold such beliefs, the Pakistani establishment isn't alone.

Ever since the United States expanded defence production at the beginning of the Second World War, its wholly-privately owned defence industry has provided employment and prosperity to its citizens and (till the McCain-Feingold Act passed last year) undeclared campaign contributions to its politicians. After the War, the ex-Allies China and Russia became foes de jure and provided nascent military-industrial complex with a new purpose of existence and cause for expensive funding and inflated contracts from the government. The American masses who struggled from dawn till dusk to make ends meet, quietly watched their taxes go into the coffers of these corporations and remained mute in the face of the “communist threat”.

Then came the fall of the Berlin Wall, and a new economic concept was born called the “peace dividend”. It stated that now that the United States faced no conventional threat and had become the world's sole superpower, billions that had been flowing to the defence sector in the US could be allocated to the social uplift of the American people. Therefore, the US defence budget dipped and no large increases were witnessed for a decade hence. But then, the Osama Bin Laden-led Al Qaeda terrorist outfit attacked the WTC building in New York and the Pentagon and Washington. The US found a new threat, one that didn't have a limited shelf life like a rogue enemy state, and the US military-industrial complex has never been happier. It's never been that richer either. The US military budget has passed the trillion dollar mark. Contracts are being dished out for futuristic naval surface ships, unmanned fighter planes and modern gear for the American GI of the 21st century.

So, as I said, the Pakistani establishment is one of many that, if they don't like OBL, don't want him neutralised either.

RAVEZ JUNEJOKarachi