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Opinion
Cast off from America
Brian Cloughley
Friday, June 08, 2012
Pakistan is in a parlous state. Internal security is a major problem and the Karachi shambles seems to be beyond the power of government to deal with. Balochistan is in chaos, the level of sectarian violence increases weekly and the war in the tribal areas is costing the country a fortune.
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the fighting between militants and the army in the border region with Afghanistan. Pakistan is still host to two million Afghan refugees who cant return to their country because it remains in ungovernable anarchy.
And all this has happened because of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 which drove the fanatics over the border. Sure, Pakistan wasnt a paradise before that but it was in much better shape than it is now.
Suicide bombings were almost unknown (there was one in 1995 when an Egyptian citizen tried to drive a bomb-laden truck into the Egyptian embassy compound in Islamabad; but there were 41 last year), and you could walk the streets of Karachi in peace.
A foreigner could drive from Islamabad to Quetta with no more fear than being overcharged at a chai shop en route. Swat was paradise and Darra Adam Khels Afridis would welcome you with a barrage of pen gun fire.
Fishing, trekking, climbing and relaxing in the north provided income for the region and pleasure for visitors. Boat trips down the Indus and visits to historic sites throughout the country were normal tourist pastimes. But how many tourists have there been since the beginning of Americas war in Afghanistan?
There are many victims of the absurdly-named Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, but the main losers are the ordinary citizens of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Afghan war hasnt given them any freedom, but they have to endure the resulting fear, poverty and random slaughter.
Washington refuses to apologise for killing 24 soldiers of the Pakistani army last November, although it was obvious that the massacre was entirely the fault of those who failed to take action when told that US planes were striking friendly troops.
The fact that the soldiers were in well-established posts that had been notified to US liaison was immaterial. But imagine what would have happened if the Pakistani air force had shot up a US army post across the border and killed one single American soldier.
The screams of White House outrage would be matched only by the roars of Congress condemnation, with all the representatives of the people leaping on the patriotic bandwagon to condemn the killers of a US boy. Dr Samuel Johnson said that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. Nowadays it is the first resort of the hypocrite.
There are double standards all round. Consider the case of Raymond Davis, the CIA man who killed two citizens of Pakistan and was whisked out of the country without having to stand trial. The president of the United States told a deliberate lie when he said the killer was Mr Davis, our diplomat in Pakistan, and declared that if our diplomats are in another country, then they are not subject to that countrys local prosecution... Davis was no diplomat: he was a trigger-happy bungling thug.
Imagine what would have happened if an undercover member of Pakistans Intelligence Bureau had shot dead two US citizens in America. He would have been immediately tried, convicted and sentenced.
But there are different rules for Pakistan, just as in the ongoing drone strikes, all of which are personally approved by the US president, the man who lied about the status of Raymond Davis.
On June 5, the Americans said one of their drone strikes in Pakistan killed Abu Yahya al-Libi, the supposed second-in-command of Al Qaeda. This may be so (although in December 2009 they also said they had killed him), but whether or not al-Libi died is neither here nor there, because the point is that military attacks in the territory of a foreign nation are illegal unless the countries concerned are in a state of war.
Pakistan told America on June 5 that drone strikes are unlawful, against international law and a violation of Pakistans sovereignty. But America cares not a fig for international law or sovereignty.
Insult after insult is heaped upon Pakistan, and the tone of the June visit by US defence secretary Leon Panetta to Delhi, concurrent with the dramatic increase in the drone blitz, is more evidence of the contempt in which Islamabad is held by Washington.
For the moment, Pakistan relies heavily on the US for economic assistance, but this could be changed. Russia and China are supportive of Pakistan and themselves experience (albeit with quiet amusement) the supercilious arrogance with which Washington regards the world.
It is time for Pakistan to cast off from America and concentrate on cooperation with countries that will not treat it with bullying disdain.
The writer is a South Asian affairs analyst. Website is www.beecluff.com
Cast off from America
Brian Cloughley
Friday, June 08, 2012
Pakistan is in a parlous state. Internal security is a major problem and the Karachi shambles seems to be beyond the power of government to deal with. Balochistan is in chaos, the level of sectarian violence increases weekly and the war in the tribal areas is costing the country a fortune.
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the fighting between militants and the army in the border region with Afghanistan. Pakistan is still host to two million Afghan refugees who cant return to their country because it remains in ungovernable anarchy.
And all this has happened because of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 which drove the fanatics over the border. Sure, Pakistan wasnt a paradise before that but it was in much better shape than it is now.
Suicide bombings were almost unknown (there was one in 1995 when an Egyptian citizen tried to drive a bomb-laden truck into the Egyptian embassy compound in Islamabad; but there were 41 last year), and you could walk the streets of Karachi in peace.
A foreigner could drive from Islamabad to Quetta with no more fear than being overcharged at a chai shop en route. Swat was paradise and Darra Adam Khels Afridis would welcome you with a barrage of pen gun fire.
Fishing, trekking, climbing and relaxing in the north provided income for the region and pleasure for visitors. Boat trips down the Indus and visits to historic sites throughout the country were normal tourist pastimes. But how many tourists have there been since the beginning of Americas war in Afghanistan?
There are many victims of the absurdly-named Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, but the main losers are the ordinary citizens of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Afghan war hasnt given them any freedom, but they have to endure the resulting fear, poverty and random slaughter.
Washington refuses to apologise for killing 24 soldiers of the Pakistani army last November, although it was obvious that the massacre was entirely the fault of those who failed to take action when told that US planes were striking friendly troops.
The fact that the soldiers were in well-established posts that had been notified to US liaison was immaterial. But imagine what would have happened if the Pakistani air force had shot up a US army post across the border and killed one single American soldier.
The screams of White House outrage would be matched only by the roars of Congress condemnation, with all the representatives of the people leaping on the patriotic bandwagon to condemn the killers of a US boy. Dr Samuel Johnson said that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. Nowadays it is the first resort of the hypocrite.
There are double standards all round. Consider the case of Raymond Davis, the CIA man who killed two citizens of Pakistan and was whisked out of the country without having to stand trial. The president of the United States told a deliberate lie when he said the killer was Mr Davis, our diplomat in Pakistan, and declared that if our diplomats are in another country, then they are not subject to that countrys local prosecution... Davis was no diplomat: he was a trigger-happy bungling thug.
Imagine what would have happened if an undercover member of Pakistans Intelligence Bureau had shot dead two US citizens in America. He would have been immediately tried, convicted and sentenced.
But there are different rules for Pakistan, just as in the ongoing drone strikes, all of which are personally approved by the US president, the man who lied about the status of Raymond Davis.
On June 5, the Americans said one of their drone strikes in Pakistan killed Abu Yahya al-Libi, the supposed second-in-command of Al Qaeda. This may be so (although in December 2009 they also said they had killed him), but whether or not al-Libi died is neither here nor there, because the point is that military attacks in the territory of a foreign nation are illegal unless the countries concerned are in a state of war.
Pakistan told America on June 5 that drone strikes are unlawful, against international law and a violation of Pakistans sovereignty. But America cares not a fig for international law or sovereignty.
Insult after insult is heaped upon Pakistan, and the tone of the June visit by US defence secretary Leon Panetta to Delhi, concurrent with the dramatic increase in the drone blitz, is more evidence of the contempt in which Islamabad is held by Washington.
For the moment, Pakistan relies heavily on the US for economic assistance, but this could be changed. Russia and China are supportive of Pakistan and themselves experience (albeit with quiet amusement) the supercilious arrogance with which Washington regards the world.
It is time for Pakistan to cast off from America and concentrate on cooperation with countries that will not treat it with bullying disdain.
The writer is a South Asian affairs analyst. Website is www.beecluff.com
