November 06, 2009
Hired Guns
The uproar in Pakistan on the $7.5 billion Kerry-Lugar-Berman aid package has exposed the limitations of the so-called ‘lobbyists’ and the policy of dependency on hired guns.
Grand claims cannot disguise results.
The minimum expectation for all those entrusted with the responsibility – Pakistanis and non-Pakistanis -- is to be alert enough to scrutinize and vet items specific to or affecting Pakistan, to accurately identify their sensitivity and applicability, and then take or suggest the necessary preventive or preemptive measures. The startled and angry reaction to the aid bill is proof enough that the ‘competent authorities’ did not do their basic job. It is as simple as that.
The havoc being wreaked today is a by-product of the “loot-and-scoot” culture which has infested society and polity like a spreading epidemic.
The message being sent (despite the fact that it is not working) is that the only way to lure others to one’s cause is to flash dollar bills. If that were truly the case, then the moneyed Arab Establishment would be enjoying widespread favorable perception in much of the Western world.
The Indian community in the US has been much more effective in quietly and steadily working toward their common goal of accumulating influence and penetrating inside US policy-making circles. One such example is the Gandhi Memorial Center in the Washington area. Here, in cooperation with the Embassy of India, programs are presented where, among other things, India is being portrayed as a “conscience of the world” and “at the vanguard of the struggle against colonialism and apartheid”. Never mind the sordid reality of the plight of India’s 200 million untouchable Dalit populace who suffer the most hideous forms of degradation and humiliation on earth.
In striking contrast, the Pakistan community does not enjoy a similar hub despite the fact that they have the ready-made infrastructure that can be converted by using the two landmark buildings (now empty) which once housed, along Embassy Row at Washington, DC, the old Pakistan Chancery at 2315 Massachusetts Avenue and its nearby annex at 2201 R Street.
The sad part is that discussions about the fate of these centrally located buildings sitting on prime real estate have focused less on using them as a community center but more on selling them to encash on their ample real estate value. Once again, the emphasis is on obtaining money rather than putting in money to achieve something substantial.
Missing in action is a coherent Pakistani voice in the conversation in “ Main Street” America. Why? Much of the energy – which could have been more usefully deployed elsewhere – has been wasted on wooing VIPs instead of developing the self-empowering route of building a base of youthful, confident thinkers and players who, on the basis of fair play, can demand – not beg – for their rightful place at the table, commensurate with their size in America and long-term significance of their ancestral homeland to vital US interests.
Whether in Islamabad or Washington, those who seek a Messiah in their midst will find only false messiahs.
