Reclaiming Our Pakistan : Pak Alliance with US has Cost us .... IMRAN KHAN

[Secret Service]

IMRAN KAHN :

No Pakistani was involved in 9/11 but the Pakistani state entangled itself in someone else’s war and weaved a web of deceit for its people. We could have helped US get to al-Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan, but this did not require handing over Pakistan to CIA.


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—Today the Pakistani state – that is its government and security structures – stands exposed as never before in front of its own people as well as the world.


Never before, since 1971, has the Pakistani nation felt so defenceless and so full of anger and shame. Yet the disastrous outcome for all of us to see today was the natural outcome of self-serving policies pursued by a dictator and subsequently by a US-manufactured and NRO-sanctioned leadership. Policies based on lies and propaganda were inevitably going to end in humiliation and disgrace not just for the leadership of the country but for every living Pakistani. That is what finally happened when the US invaded Pakistani airspace and carried out its operation against Osama bin Laden, unhindered and undetected by the seventh most powerful nuclear armed military in the world.


The US had always stated that in case they had actionable intelligence on a high value target, they would take unilateral military action. Why was this strategic US policy decision that directly impaired our security and sovereignty not made a bone of contention in any strategic dialogue? Similarly, the US has stated that in case of any terrorist attack on US mainland, all options would be on the table. Why has our government never sought the revision of this policy conditional to our cooperation to protect Pakistan from a massive military retaliation in case of a terrorist attack against the US mainland is linked to Pakistan?


By fighting a US-led war and hypocritically telling the people of Pakistan that it was their war, the state of Pakistan lied shamelessly. After all, Al-Qaeda was all in Afghanistan, until the US attacks on Tora Bora left an exit route for them to escape. Even more critical, no Pakistani was involved in the 9/11 attacks. But in the aftermath of 9/11 the Pakistani leadership weaved a web of deceit for its people.


Certainly Pakistan should have helped the US get the 9/11 terrorists and their organisation but this did not require handing over the country to the US, allowing the CIA to set up a parallel intelligence network across Pakistan seriously undermining our internal security and indulging in the renditions of Pakistanis to the US. As Clive Smith of Reprieve has pointed out, 90% of those handed over to the US turned out to be innocent; the case of Mullah Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan and a serving diplomat, was just one such case, where Pakistan also violated its commitments under the Geneva Convention.


To our everlasting shame, after three years at Guantanamo, Mullah Zaeef was found innocent.

Using fear as a weapon and having trapped the country into deception and deceit on the US behest, the Pakistani state sent its forces into Waziristan while the US pounded FATA with drone attacks, killing thousands of civilians. It was hardly surprising to find a full-blown tribal rebellion and the Pakistani Taliban as a result of these erroneous military-centric policies. Lies continued to be fed to the Pakistani people on the casualties of the drone attacks. Much before the killing of the tribal jirga in March, a drone attack in September 2004 killed 70 people while another 40 were killed the next day during the funerals being held for the earlier victims.


With no substantiation, incumbent Interior Minister Rehman Malik has declared that all those killed by CIA drones were ‘militants’ when the Member of National Assembly from South Waziristan had declared that if even one of the victims was a foreign militant he would resign!


Who can forget the 2006 drone attack in Bajaur which targeted a Madrassah and of the 80 killed, 60 were children? Three days later, a relative of one of the victims committed a suicide attack on soldiers in Malakand killing 50. By far the biggest lie was that Pakistan Army was fighting an ideological Taliban rather than 90% of militants being our own tribal people. There was another blatant lie emanating from a Pakistani general that drone attacks always kill militants. There is no way of ascertaining who has been killed. There is no DNA test conducted as people are just blown into pieces. Drone strikes constitute not only a blatant breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty, but it is also a grave violation of the international humanitarian laws where the US acts as the judge, jury and the executioner – all put into one – killing suspects’ wives and children.


The drone strikes have created more hatred against the Americans than any other single thing. According to those who attended the sit-in against CIA drones, the rationale was that every one killed out of ten may be a militant. The others are innocent citizens who have nothing to do with any terrorist activity. The New America Foundation Survey that was conducted aboput six months ago has reiterated that more than 80% traibal people oppose the drone strikes as they believe that these attacks mostly kill innocent people.

So why did the Pakistani state accept such a suicidal policy under US pressure?


Pakistan’s ruling elite – civil and military – since the sixties have sought US crutches for prolonging their hold on power at the cost of building state institutions and our economy. Instead of investing in education and social reforms they have taken shortcuts at the expense of the Pakistani people, seeking US dollars whenever the opportunity presented itself to sustain its corrupt and extravagant lifestyle as well as inept governance. The same rentier class obliged the US during the Gen. Zia’s period to resist the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan with the help of the CIA by creating and funding several militant groups. The one time heroes of the West turned villains after 9/11, our leaders also changed their colours and with their new found passion to be portrayed as liberals and bulwarks against Islamic extremism. Their latest mantra of liberalism was music to Western powers who were willing to ally with every scoundrel and thug as long as they danced to their tunes. Most disgracefully, by seeking to make themselves indispensable to the West, our rulers have played a major role in creating the misperception abroad that Pakistan is a haven for radical Islam, despite the reality that every election has shown the religious parties to be marginal in the politics of the country.


Meanwhile, fear has been used as a weapon on the Pakistani people: fear of US military action against them; fear of an economic collapse; and most damaging, fear of the country being overrun by militants and extremists. As a result, while the wealth of the rulers continues to multiply, the country has faced $ 68 b in losses over the last decade, as well as 35,000 dead and a national debt that has doubled in three years from Rs. 5 to $10 trillion. Add to this the displaced people from FATA where the population of 6 million has seen its lives devastated and traumatised, and the disaster visited upon Pakistan becomes clearer. And, yet we are not trusted by our so called western allies who are pointing accusatory fingers at us as harbourers of terrorists. Typically, President Zardari had declared at a FoDP meeting in Japan (2009) that “we are fighting to save the world” and then demanded dollars; but in reality it is Pakistan that needs to be saved from its rulers and their lies and corruption.


Way Forward

There is only one way forward for Pakistan today. The NRO-sponsored leaders came to power through fraudulent elections as the Election Commission has now made public that out of 80 million registered voters, 37 million were bogus and 35 million unregistered in the last elections. This government must resign or made to resign through public pressure so that fair and free elections can be held under an independent Election Commission and NADRA based electoral rolls.


Reforms must be instituted. An austerity drive must be in place to stop the shameful extravagance of the rulers. A democratic government needs to own its war on terror based on indigenously-formulated policies. Most significantly, a democratic government must take responsibility for all acts of terror in its country. The more our military and political leadership is seen as a mercenary of the US, the more it increases the radicalisation, extremism and terrorism within Pakistan. Whenever Al Qaeda and the Taliban announce Jihad against the US, they also announce it against US agents – meaning the Pakistani state. This undermines the Pakistan military’s ability to fight militancy effectively. The US should be told categorically that no help or aid is required from it and that the Pakistani state cannot be America’s hired gun anymore. The tribals, who have never been involved in terrorism, need to be co-opted into a national policy to fight and isolate the real terrorists.


Rule of Law is critical and all militant groups, private armies and other non-state actors carrying arms must be disarmed. There can be no exceptions to this rule.


Corruption can only be tackled through an independent accountability process involving auditors and lawyers while tax collection needs to be widened by withdrawing all exemptions so that the rich can be taxed. A most important aberration that needs to be tackled is illiteracy. An education emergency must be declared and one uniform educational system needs to be put in place as a soon as feasible for the whole country.


These problems and their solutions are totally doable but only by a credible and democratic government that has the capacity to mobilize the people and indigenous resources. Perhaps the crossroad that Pakistan has been pushed to at present can be a blessing in disguise. At a time when the whole Osama operation has exposed the Pakistan state and its duplicity internally and externally, with overseas Pakistanis suffering an extreme reaction especially in the United States, Pakistanis can choose to rid themselves of this complicit and disgraced leadership. This is the time for a national revival through restoration of national dignity and sovereignty.


Today Pakistan has no other choice.

Imran Khan is Chairman, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf [Pakistan Movement for Justice]. This opinion was published in The News International.

 

[Mo12]

Well USA did help Pakistan in war against India, which mean things could of been very different.

 

[Meengla]

Imran Khan does make an important and valid point: The US 'aid' makes the Pakistani military looks like a tool of American and hence the military loses credibility. As I said in another topic just a few minutes ago, if the US Congress is going to stop the 'aid' then please do so now. Let the country of Pakistan go bankrupt by stopping all trade via Western countries as well.
However, Imran Khan is frankly lying about the effect of NRO on Pakistani policies: NRO which made it possible for PPP to come to power only facilitated a few politicians' return to power and that too via free and fair elections. Yes, free and fair. Why is so surprising that PPP, which is the largest political party in Pakistan, could come to power via elections? It had done so 3 times before and even in 2002 was the largest political party.

I will forgive Imran Khan's generalizations. I do agree with his remedies: Stop accepting American aid, put the political house in order (though I suggest forming a govt. of national unity for next 10 years), stop corruption, stop stealing electricity. Isolate the real terrorists from the tribals.

 

[cheekybird]

at the moment looking at the present govt n the past 1z,i think imran khan should be given a chance.so this time im voting for him

 

[mikkix]

Its almost difficult or nearest to impossible to reclaim Pakistan. The way our civil, bearuecracy, military establishment used us like a condom, its like Go to hell to all of you either military or beareacracy.
Why all such reclaiming begins when americans war starts to end???
Pakistan is always be there with America in all wars because it suited them to strengthen their defence and military in return whatever the consequences.
Our military needs american war and that is why we always there for them in the past and we either Pakistan or US left each other when the war is over.

 

[Mutee]

We can't reclaim Pakistan as long as we have these shamless generals who take $$$$ and rent us out and even kill us in returen get rid of these fools they are already on extension

 

[Secret Service]

We can't reclaim Pakistan as long as we have these shamless generals who take $$$$ and rent us out and even kill us in returen get rid of these fools they are already on extension

why you are putting all the trash on Generals... what you think about our leaders like zardari / gillani and ambassidor like Haqqani ...

 

[T-Faz]

No Pakistani was involved in 9/11 but the Pakistani state entangled itself in someone else’s war and weaved a web of deceit for its people. We could have helped US get to al-Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan, but this did not require handing over Pakistan to CIA.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was involved and he is considered to be the mastermind behind Al Qaeda's terrorist missions against the west.

One mistake to another built up this web of deceit, it just does not start from the point Pakistan signed an agreement with US to partake in this war but rather the time when the people of this nation have been lied to, misled and taken advantage of.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—Today the Pakistani state – that is its government and security structures – stands exposed as never before in front of its own people as well as the world.

Its always been exposed, the only reason people could not see is because they themselves kept their eyes shut and turned the other cheek to multiple injustices that have occurred to various people in this land. If you look at the past events, you can clearly figure out the incompetency and absurdity of it all, this incident however is too great and it has woken up a lot of people.

Never before, since 1971, has the Pakistani nation felt so defenceless and so full of anger and shame. Yet the disastrous outcome for all of us to see today was the natural outcome of self-serving policies pursued by a dictator and subsequently by a US-manufactured and NRO-sanctioned leadership. Policies based on lies and propaganda were inevitably going to end in humiliation and disgrace not just for the leadership of the country but for every living Pakistani. That is what finally happened when the US invaded Pakistani airspace and carried out its operation against Osama bin Laden, unhindered and undetected by the seventh most powerful nuclear armed military in the world.

We didn't learn anything from 71, in fact things got worse after that because the nation sought not to address the root causes of the problems but deflect from them by harsh policies to malign groups and external forces for the sake of unity.

I agree with the bolded part and I hope that the next leader corrects their policies, its not the US's fault, its our own.

The US had always stated that in case they had actionable intelligence on a high value target, they would take unilateral military action. Why was this strategic US policy decision that directly impaired our security and sovereignty not made a bone of contention in any strategic dialogue? Similarly, the US has stated that in case of any terrorist attack on US mainland, all options would be on the table. Why has our government never sought the revision of this policy conditional to our cooperation to protect Pakistan from a massive military retaliation in case of a terrorist attack against the US mainland is linked to Pakistan?

Simple, US is a hyper power and it will seek to get justice the way it sees best.

We should either reach a position to oppose them or we could avoid antagonizing them with our inane policies.

We are dependent on them, we are scared of them but we also want to finger them at every instance, does not work like this, does it?

By fighting a US-led war and hypocritically telling the people of Pakistan that it was their war, the state of Pakistan lied shamelessly. After all, Al-Qaeda was all in Afghanistan, until the US attacks on Tora Bora left an exit route for them to escape. Even more critical, no Pakistani was involved in the 9/11 attacks. But in the aftermath of 9/11 the Pakistani leadership weaved a web of deceit for its people.

Nonsense, this man talks nonsense.

This become our war the day these Mujahideen attacked the citizen of this state, this didn't occur after 911 but much earlier when these same militants we cultivated started attacking people of this country.

These people have attacked Pakistan, Sufi Mohammed led a revolt in the mid 90's, they started war on this nation long ago and it is our war too.

The more we lie to ourselves, the more troubles we will create for ourselves.

Certainly Pakistan should have helped the US get the 9/11 terrorists and their organisation but this did not require handing over the country to the US, allowing the CIA to set up a parallel intelligence network across Pakistan seriously undermining our internal security and indulging in the renditions of Pakistanis to the US. As Clive Smith of Reprieve has pointed out, 90% of those handed over to the US turned out to be innocent; the case of Mullah Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan and a serving diplomat, was just one such case, where Pakistan also violated its commitments under the Geneva Convention.

The country was handed over in the 80's when the Americans used it to experiment with radical Islam, set up their bases for proxy war against the soviets in this nation and allowed this land to be used for creating an internal infrastructure for their own use.

Imran likes the Taliban a lot, I bet that under their rule, he would have been the star attraction at Mujra nights.

To our everlasting shame, after three years at Guantanamo, Mullah Zaeef was found innocent.

Mullah Zaeef belonged to a government that brutally rules over Afghanistan and brought great terror upon the region.

Using fear as a weapon and having trapped the country into deception and deceit on the US behest, the Pakistani state sent its forces into Waziristan while the US pounded FATA with drone attacks, killing thousands of civilians. It was hardly surprising to find a full-blown tribal rebellion and the Pakistani Taliban as a result of these erroneous military-centric policies. Lies continued to be fed to the Pakistani people on the casualties of the drone attacks. Much before the killing of the tribal jirga in March, a drone attack in September 2004 killed 70 people while another 40 were killed the next day during the funerals being held for the earlier victims.

These areas are not even under Pakistani control, the people there have been knowingly kept in such conditions so that they remain war hardened. The state has lied to its people about the threats emanating from the spread of the violent ideology, the people have been kept in dark about the people who today are hurting us and if it wasn't for the drones, they would have found another way to initiate a war against Pakistan.

With no substantiation, incumbent Interior Minister Rehman Malik has declared that all those killed by CIA drones were ‘militants’ when the Member of National Assembly from South Waziristan had declared that if even one of the victims was a foreign militant he would resign!

They aren't militants, they have a high number of innocents amongst them and its truly sad to see a foreign nation bomb us.

But our own do not want to sort out the problems that exist.

Who can forget the 2006 drone attack in Bajaur which targeted a Madrassah and of the 80 killed, 60 were children? Three days later, a relative of one of the victims committed a suicide attack on soldiers in Malakand killing 50. By far the biggest lie was that Pakistan Army was fighting an ideological Taliban rather than 90% of militants being our own tribal people. There was another blatant lie emanating from a Pakistani general that drone attacks always kill militants. There is no way of ascertaining who has been killed. There is no DNA test conducted as people are just blown into pieces. Drone strikes constitute not only a blatant breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty, but it is also a grave violation of the international humanitarian laws where the US acts as the judge, jury and the executioner – all put into one – killing suspects’ wives and children.

Such incidents have only aggravated the situation, then why does the Pak Gov not stand against these attacks and look to deal with the problems themselves.

If we keep terrorists in this nation, we will always be a focus of negative perception and even attacks from other nations.

The drone strikes have created more hatred against the Americans than any other single thing. According to those who attended the sit-in against CIA drones, the rationale was that every one killed out of ten may be a militant. The others are innocent citizens who have nothing to do with any terrorist activity. The New America Foundation Survey that was conducted aboput six months ago has reiterated that more than 80% traibal people oppose the drone strikes as they believe that these attacks mostly kill innocent people.

So why don't we just give up the terrorists or kill them ourselves if we want to end all this.

So why did the Pakistani state accept such a suicidal policy under US pressure?

Its better to be alive than get bombed ourselves.

Pakistan’s ruling elite – civil and military – since the sixties have sought US crutches for prolonging their hold on power at the cost of building state institutions and our economy. Instead of investing in education and social reforms they have taken shortcuts at the expense of the Pakistani people, seeking US dollars whenever the opportunity presented itself to sustain its corrupt and extravagant lifestyle as well as inept governance. The same rentier class obliged the US during the Gen. Zia’s period to resist the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan with the help of the CIA by creating and funding several militant groups. The one time heroes of the West turned villains after 9/11, our leaders also changed their colours and with their new found passion to be portrayed as liberals and bulwarks against Islamic extremism. Their latest mantra of liberalism was music to Western powers who were willing to ally with every scoundrel and thug as long as they danced to their tunes. Most disgracefully, by seeking to make themselves indispensable to the West, our rulers have played a major role in creating the misperception abroad that Pakistan is a haven for radical Islam, despite the reality that every election has shown the religious parties to be marginal in the politics of the country.

I agree with this but we all know this and the question remains, how can we deal with this problem.

The establishment I mean.

Meanwhile, fear has been used as a weapon on the Pakistani people: fear of US military action against them; fear of an economic collapse; and most damaging, fear of the country being overrun by militants and extremists. As a result, while the wealth of the rulers continues to multiply, the country has faced $ 68 b in losses over the last decade, as well as 35,000 dead and a national debt that has doubled in three years from Rs. 5 to $10 trillion. Add to this the displaced people from FATA where the population of 6 million has seen its lives devastated and traumatised, and the disaster visited upon Pakistan becomes clearer. And, yet we are not trusted by our so called western allies who are pointing accusatory fingers at us as harbourers of terrorists. Typically, President Zardari had declared at a FoDP meeting in Japan (2009) that “we are fighting to save the world” and then demanded dollars; but in reality it is Pakistan that needs to be saved from its rulers and their lies and corruption.

Who is going to save us from the rulers then?

Way Forward

There is only one way forward for Pakistan today. The NRO-sponsored leaders came to power through fraudulent elections as the Election Commission has now made public that out of 80 million registered voters, 37 million were bogus and 35 million unregistered in the last elections. This government must resign or made to resign through public pressure so that fair and free elections can be held under an independent Election Commission and NADRA based electoral rolls.

I agree.

Reforms must be instituted. An austerity drive must be in place to stop the shameful extravagance of the rulers. A democratic government needs to own its war on terror based on indigenously-formulated policies. Most significantly, a democratic government must take responsibility for all acts of terror in its country. The more our military and political leadership is seen as a mercenary of the US, the more it increases the radicalisation, extremism and terrorism within Pakistan. Whenever Al Qaeda and the Taliban announce Jihad against the US, they also announce it against US agents – meaning the Pakistani state. This undermines the Pakistan military’s ability to fight militancy effectively. The US should be told categorically that no help or aid is required from it and that the Pakistani state cannot be America’s hired gun anymore. The tribals, who have never been involved in terrorism, need to be co-opted into a national policy to fight and isolate the real terrorists.

Its easier to jot all this down, a lot of people have promised great things but they never materialized, the leaders including Imran have been cultivated by the establishment to provide another alternative to the people.

We do not need another Bhutto.

Rule of Law is critical and all militant groups, private armies and other non-state actors carrying arms must be disarmed. There can be no exceptions to this rule.

Yes, I agree with that vehemently.

Corruption can only be tackled through an independent accountability process involving auditors and lawyers while tax collection needs to be widened by withdrawing all exemptions so that the rich can be taxed. A most important aberration that needs to be tackled is illiteracy. An education emergency must be declared and one uniform educational system needs to be put in place as a soon as feasible for the whole country.

I completely agree but how will we formulate our new policy, who is going to develop the curriculum, how will religion play a part in all this.

Will we still teach poison to the children, will they be able to hear all sides of a story and can they be allowed to challenge the ideas in place.

These problems and their solutions are totally doable but only by a credible and democratic government that has the capacity to mobilize the people and indigenous resources. Perhaps the crossroad that Pakistan has been pushed to at present can be a blessing in disguise. At a time when the whole Osama operation has exposed the Pakistan state and its duplicity internally and externally, with overseas Pakistanis suffering an extreme reaction especially in the United States, Pakistanis can choose to rid themselves of this complicit and disgraced leadership. This is the time for a national revival through restoration of national dignity and sovereignty.

We need to see a complete plan, one that is in agreement with modernity and liberalism, we do not want a temporary solution that will cause further problems for the state.

Today Pakistan has no other choice.

Its Now Or Never, Are We To Live Or Perish Forever.

 

[Mutee]

why you are putting all the trash on Generals... what you think about our leaders like zardari / gillani and ambassidor like Haqqani ...

They are all corroupt no doubt about that but it wasn't zardaris job to protect a garrison city nor to find where Osama was ok ? Now stop being an army apologist whole world is laughing at us because of this joke of an army that we have my advice to you is sherm Karo stop advocating these incompetent and coward generals cuz everytime you come up with an excuse you provide others another oppoutunity to laugh at us and frankly you look stupid doing so every sane fair and balanced person will tell you that don't be like that accept the facts accept that they made us look like pu...s

 

[Secret Service]

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was Not a Pakistani ....he was a kuwati ...

 

[Mutee]

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was Not a Pakistani ....he was a kuwati ...

It doesn't matter These acts of army will never be forgotten nation will never forgive them you are fighting a lost battle and you know it ppl of Pakistan are not stupid !!!

 

[Moksha]

Apart from city crowd what's his hold on rural areas coz i think they will decide who will rule pakistan in the end.....

 

[U-571]

Well USA did help Pakistan in war against India, which mean things could of been very different.

what did US help in indian wars ????

 

[Solomon2]

what did US help in indian wars ????

Saving rump Pakistan's butt in 1971 comes to mind.

 

[Secret Service]

They are all corroupt no doubt about that but it wasn't zardaris job to protect a garrison city nor to find where Osama was ok ? Now stop being an army apologist whole world is laughing at us because of this joke of an army that we have my advice to you is sherm Karo stop advocating these incompetent and coward generals cuz everytime you come up with an excuse you provide others another oppoutunity to laugh at us and frankly you look stupid doing so every sane fair and balanced person will tell you that don't be like that accept the facts accept that they made us look like pu...s

i dont know what you are trying to say.i know army is reponsible but who allow the americans to come inside pakistan without anyone permission,to attack us and run away.army definitely know about whole incident but can they attack americans , when someone is giving you millions of dollars of millitary aid.can air force shoot down Drones on its own, when air chief said that we have capability to meet every challenge.it was more the responsibilty of civilian government who have the decision power.but our very Gillani sahab is congratulating americans for violating our air space and attack on soverignarity.army and intellingence failure do happen in these situations where government policies are not clear.9/11 was also the failure of cia.world is laughing on as because of our Begging habbit ,because we are acting like mercenaries, because of our slave leaders wikileaks exposed everything.as far as army is concerned, i believe army is doing his job very well , and because of it we are safe from terrorists,without army pakistan may become iraq now...i think you are very shameless and thankless person who is denying the sacrifices and efforts of pak army...And dont reply me , i will no listen your BS ...