Pakistan is purported to be the seventh or eighth nuclear power in the world following India and Israel. Yet, despite this hullabaloo about we being a nuclear power, a lowly governmental official of the superpower had the audacity to tell our President; "are you with us or not, for if you are not, we will pulverize you back into the Stone Age". Our worthy President very quickly acquiesced to the threat and told the superpower not to send us back to Stone Age by using their daisy-cutters. He did the needful. So there you have it. We spent billions of dollars on importing sophisticated missiles, fighter aircrafts, submarines and AWACs (on which our leaders got handsome kickbacks) but we were not secured. We further spend billions of dollars in developing ballistic missiles capable of carrying our nuclear warheads up to more than a 2000 KM but still did not get security. Instead, our begging bowl continues to be dangled before the WB, IMF, ADB and other loaning agencies. Our worthy president doles out billions in largess to his buddies and cronies, he writes off billions more in loans of the high and mighty, but cannot provide the basics to the teeming millions who cry out for roti, kapra aur makan. -MAHMOOD L. MALIK, via e-mail, May 5.