Alienating Pakistan

Alienating Pakistan13 June 2008
AMERICAN artillery and air strike inside Pakistani territory that killed 11 paramilitary soldiers and Islamabad’s expected response more or less mark the beginning of the dismantling of the war-on-terror’s most central business arrangement.
It had begun weakening for some time now and American predator incursions deep inside Pakistani airspace of late were ample indications for analysts familiar with the relationship that something was about to give way soon.
That the position crumbled with Pakistani army blood being spilled will anger local opinion at a time when the government is indulging in diplomatic experiments with elements in the tribal belt mainly to appease a public very angry over unstinted support extended to the Americans all these years. The pressure facing Islamabad now is well understandable.
For now, it seems difficult that the Pakistan-US equation that Musharraf and Bush held for more than half a decade will be returned to. Islamabad will now rightly fear a déjà vu of its previous hands-in-glove with the Americans, when the State Department and CIA ended cooperation as soon as the Soviets rolled their tanks out of Afghanistan, leaving Pakistan to struggle with refugees, drugs, Kalashnikovs, and continuous uncertainty on its borders. General Musharraf rightly sought assurances before shaking on the post 9/11 deal, reminding the Americans in straight terms that the premature withdrawal was more or less also responsible for the mutation of the Afghan mujahideen into what eventually became the Taleban.
Now, with an American election just around the corner, and the likelihood of a Democratic stint at the House that’ll be surely quick to distance itself from Bush’s war method, there is growing anxiety in Pakistani circles that they’re about to be hung out to dry again. Such concerns are not helped by what some are rightly calling the Bush U-turn, with Washington ignoring Pakistani concerns and blatantly violating the country’s airspace and territorial integrity.
The Pentagon’s response to the latest tragedy, that they coordinated the attacks with the Pakistani military, will not wash easily since they’ll reflect very poorly on the sole superpower’s military credentials. The Pakistani reaction is understandable, which is why America will have to go the extra mile if the situation is to be controlled. If the long years of the terror-war have not convinced America and Afghanistan that they will always need Pakistan, then it is little surprise that their fortunes are on a continuous downside.
Pakistan has paid dearly for participation in the war against terrorism, economically, socially and politically. To add to its military troubles is to force it to opt out of the arrangement it has held despite the difficulties. The ball is in America’s court now. How they handle the situation will reflect the level of their interest in South Asia’s worsening political landscape.


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