9 April, 2008
The photo-op of the London meeting between the MQM's leader and the US ambassador to Pakistan should be a reality check for anyone who believes the US is concerned about its influence waning in Pakistan with the realignment of political forces. Even if one were to forget about the Balusa Group's influence in the decision-making circles, what should one make of the continuing intrusiveness of US diplomats in Pakistan's domestic political domain? Nor should one rest easy about the US now being comfortable with Pakistan's nuclear capability. Even though the Pakistan government had rejected the 11 conditions which were part of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) being sought by the US, Washington has not given up on attempting to push its agendas forward in Pakistan.
We are still not clear whether the notorious General Hood is still coming to Pakistan, as it appears no one and no bureaucratic institution in Pakistan is prepared to claim an awareness of his nomination. This, of course, raises the question of whether the US simply sends whomsoever it selects with no consultation or approval being sought from the host state, or whether sensitive approvals bypass normal channels altogether?
Perhaps the most dangerous effort at intruding into Pakistan's sensitive issue areas is the ongoing effort to gain direct access to nuclear strategic matters. This scribe has learnt that in late February, following our elections, the US State Department floated a proposal through verbal contact via an assistant secretary level official of the section concerned, that the US would like to place a permanent official in place at their embassy in Islamabad to deal with nuclear issues relating to Pakistan – with the official maintaining direct access to the National Command Authority (NCA) Secretariat. The proposal, again, was not routed through either the Foreign or Defence Ministries but a direct approach was made to the NCA! Apparently, so far Pakistan has not given any response but it would be quite appropriate to be concerned about such a US move, especially since transparency is not available at our end on such issues.
The US continues to be niggardly in its payments of dues (not aid) to Pakistan which are part of the 2003 Camp David bilateral Agreement. According to reports early this month, the US has yet to pay $500 million which was to have come to Pakistan last year. It seems all Camp David Agreements include some level of servitude by Muslim states! Perhaps this would be an opportune moment to create space between us and the US and allow the US to discover whether rerouting its supplies and logistics through Russia instead of Pakistan will be as convenient. As for the clandestine US activities which have little to do with Afghanistan, through the base in Balochistan still in use, surely it is time to put an end to these? Pakistan certainly needs to wake up to the danger in which it is putting itself, in its strategic neighbourhood, as it turns a blind eye to questionable US activities on Pakistani territory. Incidentally, if the Predator's transponder is switched off, the radar cannot detect it in flight!
Meanwhile, there is a spark of hope at least on the move towards a more holistic approach on the war against terror, with the ANP not only standing firm but also moving on its commitment to use dialogue to break the extremists' cycle of violence in the tribal belt. In this connection, the statement of the NWFP chief minister in the Provincial Assembly, in which he declared an intent of putting the political forces in the vanguard of the dialogue, with the security forces being used for the maintenance of law and order is a proactive move which will give the political dimension of the anti-terror policy the needed primacy.
As for the issue of terrorism and extremism, the United States' credibility on opposing terrorism, per se, is being exposed not only with its use of Jundullah against the sovereign state of Iran, but also with the emergence of LTTE groups in the US itself. But, then, if one remembers how many Irish groups in the US financed the IRA for years, the present US antics and double talk on terrorism should not come as a surprise. In a similar vein, the emerging psychological terrorism emanating from Europe should also be a warning to the Muslim World. Through the absurdity of "freedom of speech," the Holy Quran and the Prophet (PBUH) are being abused even as anyone even questioning the Holocaust is pilloried, fined and imprisoned. The efforts of the government of the Netherlands to disassociate itself from a Dutch politician's abusive and hate-filled film against Islam, its Prophet (PBUH) and Muslims, while taking no action against the guilty person, is yet another example of hypocrisy in the name of "free speech." As the Dutch government put it: "All people in the Netherlands have the right to express their opinions without the prior consent of the authorities." Of course, that is true of many countries, including Pakistan. But what the Dutch government failed to state was that it has laws which allow action to be taken against those indulging in transgression of "free speech" – as would have happened if the Holocaust had been questioned or Nazism praised. Even the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms places ethical and legal boundaries on these rights and freedoms in Article 10.
Ironically, the Dutch government also called on other governments (aimed at Muslim states, of course) to "uphold the principles of international law, such as the obligation it enshrines to protect foreign interests, nationals and businesses." So, first the Dutch defend the right of their citizens to freely abuse Islam and indulge in psychological terrorism of the Muslims through this abuse. And then when Muslim passions are aroused they label us violent and extremist – adding to the dimension of psychological terrorism. Now we have had, for the second year consecutively, the desecration of Muslim graves in a French military cemetery. These were Muslims who fought and gave their lives for the liberty of the French state, even while they themselves were under French colonial rule.
Nor are the Brits any better in terms of their hypocrisy vis-a-vis their Muslim citizens. Time after time they want to prove how British Muslims become terrorists simply by visiting Pakistan! Clearly the Brits are unable to accept that there is something intrinsically skewed in their society which marginalises the Muslim youth who turn to extremism and violence. The extremist mindset has not evolved from their visit to Pakistan, but as a result of their marginalisation in Britain itself. In fact, in the future the major source of extremism and violence is going to come from the marginalised Muslim populations of Europe, not from our part of the world. So, perhaps it is time for the Europeans to do some introspection also, even as they are pontificating to us on such issues.
As for Pakistan, we need to examine the terrorist issue within the domestic perspective and identify the differing strands of this problem confronting us today. Some of us have been stating repeatedly that we cannot fight terrorism the American way, just as we cannot afford to push all our domestic strains of violence and terror under the convenient rubric of Al Qaeda and international terrorism. This has only made us more vulnerable to international interventions and prevented us from moving beyond a fire-fighting mode to a more holistic, nationally-defined long-term anti-terrorism strategy.
The writer is director general of the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad
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