War on Terrorism in Pakistan's National Interest
Written by: Afreen Baig
War on Terrorism in Pakistanâs National Interest « Our leader - Musharraf
Pakistan First : War on Terrorism in Pakistanâs National Interest
Political instability, a growing insurgency, a demoralized army and an intensely anti-American population are the hallmarks of todays Pakistan, remarked US Senator Thomas Cooper recently.
War on Terrorism (WoT) did not start with the advent of 9/11, rather it started in 1980s when Russia was defeated in Afghanistan, and the USA pulled out abandoning the hundreds of thousands of equipped and trained guerillas. Those guerillas and militants integrated in small pockets in various regions of Afghanistan and NWFP. They utilized their militancy to influence domestic tribes and mosques to instigate and promote radicalism. In 2000-01, Government of Pakistan was forced to ban several extremist outfits due to increase in sectarian violence and its effect on the lives of ordinary Pakistanis. For Pakistan - it was already at war with extremism!
9/11 further changed the political dimensions for USA, and also changed Pakistans destiny. A destiny that is full of expectations, decision making, media trial, uprising opportunist and extremist hoping to destabilize Pakistan. Who will be the ultimate winner is yet to be seen. The regional environment is a complex one and Pakistan is fighting a multi-faceted battle that will change the course of history.
9/11 put Pakistan in a complicated situation, where tough decisions had to be taken. Richard Armitages threatening message forced Pakistan to gauge the urgency and seriousness of the episode. The message was clear the USA will do anything, to do what it had to do in its National Interest. NATO will follow suit. Pakistan was left alone to decide and protect its National Interest. The President decided in Nations self-interest and self-preservation. War on terrorism (WoT) marked its presence it was inevitable!
Implications of war are grave and Pakistan having gone under a similar situation in 1980s knew better. Millions of effected immigrants will insist & require safe dwellings in the tribal areas of NWFP. Keen RAW and Russian espionage missions will try to cross over and operate from our tribal areas. Transport of illegal weapons and arms would have taken place to support our local opportunist rebels. Desperation might have compelled the US and NATO forces to march into a sovereign Pakistan. Above all, India was more than willing to extend its support and services to US on its WoT. Keeping in mind these ground realities; we had to choose our destiny carefully.
Vigilant and military style analyses were contemplated to calculate the pros and cons. The leadership in Pakistan war-gamed the USA and NATO as an enemy and realized that it was worthless committing suicide over the obstinate Taliban. Our out-dated military was no match for the worlds strongest and finest military, excelling in Air-force supremacy. Pakistans stagnated economy had only slightly started recovering, after being tagged as one of the highest indebted countries. Galvanizing the whole nation into agreeing to fight the USA and NATO was another impossible task. Indian eagerness to join the War on Terror was an alarming condition that Pakistan could not have over-looked. Indian jets flying over Pakistans space, with our Strategic assets lying below were a suicidal recipe. An accidental Indian bomb dropped on our Kahuta plant would have created disaster.
The Pakistani leadership couldnt and shouldnt have risked the entire 160 million Nation, for a few obstinate Taliban. A Pakistani delegate was sent to negotiate with the Taliban to pursue them to hand over Osama bin Laden to USA. The consequences were also made clear, but the over confident Taliban lacked vision to foresee their destiny. Consequently, Pakistan was forced to cut off diplomatic ties with the stubborn Taliban. Given the looming conditions, only a lunatic would have advised the contrary.
The US plans were evident they will go to war! When any country of the world goes to war, its neighboring countries are forced to secure their borders further raising the security color codes. Pakistan planned no different. It drew up plans to secure its NWFP border along Afghanistan. Around 80,000 troops were placed to patrol and were assigned specific targets. The ultimate decision to secure our borders did not completely go to waste, and was extremely beneficial in controlling cross border terrorism and infiltration. Pakistan had taken a carefully scrutinized decision.
In return for participation, the USA had assured Pakistan, that India and Israel will not participate in War on Terror. Second, the USA will not act unilaterally inside Pakistan. Third, the USA will reimburse the costs incurred on Pakistani troops and logistical help. Fourth, the USA will ensure rescheduling of Pakistans foreign debt. Pakistans intentions were sincere and made with utmost patriotism. Then, who started working behind the scenes, planning to destabilize Pakistan and how and why?
It is true, that the USA planned this war, not to fight terrorism, but to secure the vast reserves of gas and oil of the Caspian Sea region. Afghanistan was their selected and cheapest route to lay the oil and gas pipelines, starting from the central Asian states. Who then created trouble in Afghanistan, in the tribal areas of Pakistan and in Baluchistan, to jeopardize American interest and Pakistans booming economy?
Pakistans image had improved world-wide due to its participation in WoT. Rescheduling of Pakistans foreign debt gave it the space to implement visionary fiscal and macro-economic policies. The micro-economic and macro-economic policies boomed Pakistans stagnated economy from $75 billion into a $160 billion one. Our exports increased by a 100% and so did our revenue. Our currencys rating was upgraded and Pakistan saw a new era of multi-national corporations. Foreign investment chose Pakistan as its destination and stock markets profited from the liberal policies. Institutions world-wide like the World Bank, IMF, and Asian Development Bank heaped praises on Pakistans economic reforms. Reports by J. P Morgan, the Merrill Lynch, the City Group and the Goldman Sachs gave high marks to Pakistans current and future economic prospects as well as to the prudent handing of economy by economic team of the government.
Pakistan had already started attracting the foreign investment that earlier used to eye the Indian market. Pakistans geo-strategic location and its competitive labor prices further won preference over the Indian destination. Pakistans development programs modernizing the infrastructure paid off well, compared to Indias crumbling infrastructure. Who obviously could not tolerate Pakistans bright future?
Three years back the relics of Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA) re-emerged with force, advocating Liberation of Baluchistan from Pakistan. A total of 843 attacks and incidents of violence have been reported since 2002, in Baluchistan, including 54 attacks on law-enforcement agencies, 31 attacks on gas pipelines, 417 rocket attacks on various targets, 291 mine blasts and others on various occasions. It is reported that BLA members have become well-trained and well-armed, with machine guns, rocket-launchers, Motorola wireless sets, and Thuraya satellite phones receiving information about the movement of government troops. Their organized attacks using sophisticated weapons against the Pakistan Army and strategic installations compelled the Pakistani intelligence to determine the root cause and analyze the hands behind them.
PML-Q senator Mushahid Hussein Syed conceded last year, the involvement of Indian RAW in Baluchistan, while blaming India for exploiting the Afghan ministry of tribal affairs to conduct covert activities against Pakistan. He further accused RAW for establishing its training camps in Afghanistan in collaboration with the Northern Alliance remnants. Approximately 600 Ferraris, or Baluchi tribal dissidents, were getting specialized training to handle explosives, engineer bomb blasts, and use sophisticated weapons in these camps. This news came as no surprise. Indian agenda to orchestrate dissent and support extremist elements inside Baluchistan and NWFP started becoming evident.
Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna was quoted saying The government of India has been watching with concern the spiraling violence in Baluchistan and the heavy military action, including use of helicopter gunships and jet fighters by the government of Pakistan to quell it and we hope the government of Pakistan will exercise restraint and take recourse to peaceful discussions to address the grievances of the people of Baluchistan. This statement from Indian Foreign Ministry says it all clearly!
In early 2007, the Pakistani military authorities claimed there were 500-600 foreign militants in the South Waziristan area when army operations first started in early 2004. Of them, some 400 have either been killed or captured, according to the army, while a remaining 200 still stranded in North Waziristan are now using the Pakistan-Afghanistan border strip as their base to launch midnight guerilla attacks. The Media should question the presence of these Uzbeks, Tajiks, Arabs, and Afghans in Pakistans tribal agencies.
Abdullah Mehsud was detained at Camp Delta in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba and held for 2 years. After his release in early 2004, he returned to Waziristan, and kidnapped two Chinese engineers working on a dam in his region. Who supplied him, Baitullah Mehsud and Maulana Fazallulah - with all the resources, weapons, logistics help, information and money to create havoc in NWFP? It is well known that India other than having an embassy in Kabul; set up four consulates, in Kandahar, Jalalabad, Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat all neighboring NWFP. The intentions need no further elaboration.
This is also well known that the Russians were also eyeing the Caspian Sea oil and gas reserves. Energy deprived Indian economy also requires vast supply of gas and oil to sustain itself. A stable and booming Pakistan will steal the growth and regional aspirations that India desires. India cannot endure nor allow Pakistan to become another stable mini-China. Mainland China is competition tough and enough for India.
Israeli help to India is also apparent. Recently, the Israeli ambassador in New Delhi has said his countrys assistance to India brought about the turnaround in the 1999 Kargil war with Pakistan. He said, The ties between India and Israel were beyond sale and purchase of weapons. And with all due respect the secret part of it will remain secret. Surely a bold statement!
Currently, the interest of both the USA and Pakistan are being bogged down. These masked groups of achievers seem to be making the most out of War on Terrorism and by trying to deliberately destabilize Pakistan. To top it all, the Pakistani media has projected Pakistans standing with respect to WoT in a wicked way. Their insistence that Pakistan military is fighting the US foreign war against our own citizens is nothing but deceit and sham exaggeration. The Pakistan military is rightly crushing these foreign agents and rebel separatist, whose sole intention is to destabilize Pakistan.
This WoT that started off as a simple patrolling exercise on NWFP border, has transformed into fighting off foreign extremists and militants trying to conquer tribal agencies in NWFP and Baluchistan. The US and NATO fight in Afghanistan, gave many conspiring elements and countries to execute their fiendish agendas. Had the leadership of Pakistan and the Armed Forces, not foreseen and calculated the effects of war in Afghanistan - Pakistan would have been in a much graver and tormenting situation.
Thus, Pakistans decision in 2001 was far-sighted that avoided direct conflict with the super-powers of the world, and by stationing 80,000 troops on borders, we were able to confine and control the small rebels. The leadership of Pakistan did earn unfair criticism in local media, but it saved Pakistan from a bigger disaster. Otherwise, those small consulates that are functioning from Afghanistan would have rooted themselves inside NWFP and few areas of Baluchistan. Those small miscreants in NWFP and Baluchistan, who are acting as agents of foreign agencies, will soon be eliminated and the involvement of foreign agencies exposed.
This War against Terrorism and Extremism can easily be won, if our Political parties would introduce democracy within them and give way to honest leadership; those who would prefer the interest of Pakistan above their personal feudalistic agendas of increasing wealth and estates.
Lastly, a quote by Robert Dreyfuss, which may not sound relevant for now, but it indicates volumes about a particular mindset. The book Devils Game - published in 2005 quotes on page 336-337 - Neo-conservatives want to control the Middle East, not reform it, even it means tearing countries apart and replacing them with rump mini-states along ethnic and sectarian lines. The Islamic right, in this context, is just one more tool for dismantling existing regimes, if that is what it takes.
Pakistan must always decide in its National Interest! Pakistan cannot afford Political instability, growing insurgency and a demoralized Army!