Bajaur: US
Attempt to Destabilize Government?
By Dr Shireen M Mazari
The missile
attack by the US on Pakistani territory in Bajaur
Agency on Friday, 13th January, has naturally drawn
strong reaction from Pakistanis across the board.
The government's reaction has been somewhat muted,
even though the US ambassador was summoned by the
Foreign Office. At an immediate level, this act
reflects a lack of respect for Pakistan's sovereignty
and a neo-imperialist approach to the territorial
integrity of "other" states. In addition,
it once again shows a complete lack of concern for
innocent human lives -- especially if they happen
to be Muslims. After all, the main victims in this
latest US outrage were women and children. Worse
still, it also shows that the US is not only trigger
happy, but also continues to suffer from bad intelligence
-- for which innocent Pakistanis have to pay with
their lives. And not as much as even an expression
of regret for the loss of innocent lives.
However, going beyond the obvious, one needs to
really examine why this action happened at this
particular time. One needs to then focus on a disturbing
question: Is the US trying to destabilize the present
government and the state of Pakistan? What exactly
is the US game-plan? The reason why these questions
arise is because it is abundantly clear to everyone
that Pakistan is in the grip of political controversies,
not only over the Kalabagh Dam but also the situation
in Balochistan. The last thing the government of
Pakistan needed at this time was to see a so-called
ally carry out a missile attack on its territories
-- especially given that we are supposed to be allies
in the war on terror and therefore committed to
taking action ourselves, if required, in our own
territory against al-Qaeda suspects. After all,
it has been Pakistan that has so far helped to deliver
all the al-Qaeda leadership to the US. So why this
unilateral action?
The suspicions become more substantiated when one
sees how the action was coordinated by a media campaign
in the US which gave out that the attack was not
only in the knowledge of the Pakistan government
but supported by them operationally. What purpose
can such disinformation serve but to discredit the
present GoP? Had there been any truth in this information
at all, the intelligence would have not been so
inaccurate! For anyone in the GoP who still feels
that there was nothing insidious in US intent towards
Islamabad should take careful note of Condoleezza
Rice's statement defending this arrogant act of
violence. She not only stood by the killing of innocent
Pakistanis but also declared that the US would "try
to address" Pakistani government concerns --
meaning that at the end of the day such concerns
clearly were of limited value to the US. She went
on to add that al-Qaeda and the Taliban were not
"people who could be dealt with lightly",
but clearly she regards Pakistanis as such. As for
her imperious declaration that the biggest threat
to Pakistan is al-Qaeda's attempts to "radicalize"
the country, she should rest assured that if the
US continues to behave this way in this region and
globally, it will do al-Qaeda's job for them. Post-9/11,
US policies have created an ever-expanding political
space for this terrorist outfit.
But coming back to the timing of the missile attack
-- it came a few days before the secretary-level
talks between Pakistan and India, which are taking
place in the backdrop of Pakistan linking the terrorism
in Balochistan to India and India rejecting Pakistan's
demilitarization and self-governance proposals on
Kashmir. The missile attack also comes when the
GoP is already burdened with critical political
issues within the country. The attack precedes the
visit to South Asia of US Undersecretary of State
for Foreign Affairs, Nicholas Burns -- the man who
in his ultimate ignorance declared that India had
an impeccable record on non-proliferation, having
totally ignored India's nuclear cooperation treaties
with Iran and the Saddam regime and a well-documented
record of Indian nuclear assistance to Iran including
in the form of scientists working in Bushehr. Finally,
the attack came a few days before Prime Minister
Shaukat Aziz's visit to the US.
What purpose does such a murderous missile attack
serve? It creates more problems within Pakistan
for the GoP, especially allowing the opposition
forces to unite under a common cause. It destabilizes
the border area with Afghanistan further, again
allowing for greater space to the terrorists. It
creates even more problems for the Pakistan military,
not only in Balochistan, but also in the tribal
areas along the Afghan border. It certainly helps
detract Pakistan from a forceful approach towards
India in the secretary-level talks; and it presents
a dilemma for the political forces within the GoP
thereby creating more fissures within the ruling
party. Already there have been calls from some PML
members for the cancellation of the US visit by
the Pakistani Prime Minister. Whichever way one
looks at it, there seems to be little purpose in
this unwarranted act of military destruction on
the part of the US, beyond undermining the present
GoP. A dangerous aspect of the present US policy
is the growing sense that it is attempting to play
the military against the political forces in Pakistan.
Even more dangerous is that this action will add
to the alienation and misery of the people of the
tribal belt; so is the US intent to break up the
state of Pakistan? US arrogance is also reflected
in the declarations of US Senators like McCain and
Bayh that the US would do the same again -- with
Bayh referring to the tribal belt as the "wild,
wild west", and we know what happened to the
native population of the "wild west" in
the US!
So it makes little sense for the Pakistan government
to pussyfoot on the issue of condemning the US missile
attack -- the second of its kind so far against
Pakistan. At the very least the Prime Minister should
postpone his present visit to the US. There are
times when the leadership has to show a greater
sensitivity to its own civil society from which
it eventually must draw its strength, rather than
the demands of external forces. We have shown an
amazing level of tolerance for US abuse of our sovereignty,
including raids across the international border
between Pakistan and Afghanistan to kidnap individuals
from Pakistani soil. Surely we have reached the
limits of tolerance now.
Therefore, we should also tell Mr. Burns not to
visit us on this round of his South Asian tour.
Finally, the President needs to summon back our
ambassador in the US, as this will signal a strong
and unequivocal condemnation of the US action. We
should not allow ourselves to be treated with the
level of disdain and frivolity which the US is heaping
on us, even as it forges ahead with its strategic
partnership with India. There comes a time when
we need to be assertive regardless of our internal
limitations -- especially when we are in the right
in defending the sanctity of our territory and our
nationals' lives. We expect no less from any GoP.
(The writer is director general of the Institute
of Strategic Studies in Islamabad. Courtesy The
News)
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