The Reality
of Pak-US Relations
By Prof. Dr. S. Farooq
Hasnat
Columbia, MD
This is in reference to the views held in Pakistan
about the prevalent friendly attitude of the Bush
administration towards President Pervez Musharraf.
President Musharraf has read the intensions of
the Americans all wrong. The kind of support that
the Pakistani President is getting from Washington
is not because of his admiration by the American
President as an effective leader. Rather the US
is assessing its options against international
terrorism, where the Pakistani establishment fits
well.
The US administration and the Congress, which
is an important part of the foreign policy making
process, knows that the Pakistani President and
the Army Generals are not backed by the Pakistani
people. They are also aware that the Generals
are responsible for the decay of the Pakistani
society, in a number of ways - in terms of politics
and existing miserable economic conditions. The
American people are also shocked and dismayed
when told that after retirement the Army Generals
become the vice chancellors of the public universities.
In the light of the above American awareness,
there should be no misgiving that the United States
will continue to be on the softer side of the
Pakistani establishment. We are all aware that
the Pakistani establishment never “opted”
to be on the American side, they were forced to
take that stance, otherwise, even after 9/11 the
establishment continued to have very close ties
with the Taliban, knowing well the policies and
preferences of the Afghan rulers.
Let the matters of international terrorism settle,
the reality of Pak-US relations would become crystal
clear.
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