generalspeaking

Trusted Allies

Something like that proverbial pact with the devil best characterizes the new trusting partnership between the United States and Pakistan, as America plans her exit from the war-ravaged country of Afghanistan, leaving it in the kindly, good hands of the Pakistani military. Oh not on the surface, since it the Afghan army and police that are being painstakingly trained to effectively do their national duty in their ongoing need to forestall another Taliban take-over.

As for Pakistan, it has its hands full grappling with its own home-bred Taliban. But it is never too busy to meddle in the affairs of its neighbours. And it is the military, as it happens, that appears to have the upper hand in the authority of Pakistan's direction. Able to over-rule the actual executive authority of President Asif Ali Zardari, where his predecessor was of the military. When President Zardari extended the hand of peace to India, he met with stony repudiation from his military.

It has been historically and primarily the Pakistan military and its secret service intelligence agency that has taken Pakistan in its direction of avowed and unswerving military and clandestine opposition to forging a peace agreement with India. Pakistan is determined to own all of Kashmir, as its rightful inheritance, despite Indian disagreement, clinging to ownership of Indian Kashmir. Who might make the more reasonable ally between democratic countries, the United States and India, or the United States and Pakistan?

Previously, the U.S. cast its lot with Pakistan, abandoning its long association with India, leaving India to find support where it could, and at that time it was within the orbit of the Soviet Union before its historical collapse. And having just recently signed a nuclear agreement with India, the United States is once again back-tracking, to make common cause with India's nemesis, dedicated to continued hostilities in the interests of fuller hegemony in the region.

After decades when the United States felt it had good reason to distrust Pakistan, it has suddenly discovered a good friend and ally in that country. Of course there was that era in the 1980s when both countries helped to form and encourage, militarily train and equip the mujahadeen sworn to defeat the Russian army which invaded Afghanistan in their attempt to defeat growing Islamism. Which worked all too well to establish self-confidence in the growing Islamist movement heavily invested in religious jihad.

The United States paid a steep price for its willingness to support jihad because of its searing hatred for the Soviet Union; their long-range vision evidently having fallen afoul of their due diligence. With the ruling Afghan Taliban giving brotherly haven to al-Qaeda, the American response to 9/11 was their own invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. And when India entered the picture as a peaceful ally to Afghanistan with the intention of helping it to re-build its civil infrastructure, while Pakistan was still encouraging and shielding the Taliban, the lines were drawn.

Still, the U.S. continued to invest heavily in Pakistan, doling out billions to that cash-strapped country under General Musharraf to gain their confidence and nudge them into abandoning support for the Taliban. That support only arrived latterly, when some of Pakistan's own mujahadeen and tribal leaders formed their own version of the Taliban with the intention of fanatically Islamizing Pakistan and unseating the government. Quite the prospect for a nuclear country.

Now the United States find it again expedient to side with and support Pakistan in its desire to bring Afghanistan under its ruling wing, effectively thrusting India out of the picture. This new pledge to broaden the two countries' relationship beyond defence and security into a more wide-ranging alliance will once again throw India to explore alternate alliances in an effort to increase her defences against certain-to-come further Pakistan-based terror attacks.

Is it then good will and open-hearted kindness, supplemented by a a recognition of the need to abandon their past tactics of supporting terror against a neighbour which does not threaten its existence that has propelled Pakistan into this alliance with the United States? Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has pledged his country to 'act against extremists'. However, the catch is, as always, his country is in dire need of 'assistance'.

Strange, is it not, that Muslim countries, one after the other, manage to make their deals with the hated West, as long as those deals represent an exchange that will hugely benefit their bottom line. The West asks for partnership against fanatical-religion-inspired violence, and Muslim countries agree, as long as they are able to extract sufficient concessions and military armaments and additional cash incentives.

Islamabad seeks a nuclear agreement mirroring the one Washington recently signed with New Delhi, giving it access to increased, technologically advanced nuclear technology - all for peaceful means, needless to say, since Pakistan is such a peace-oriented country. And should Washington agree to permit Pakistan to become an actor in negotiating an end to the Afghan war, its prestige in the area will be accelerated and highlighted.

And while they're at it, apart from the economic assistance, and technical assistance in water and energy shortages, how about new agreements in intelligence sharing, investing Islamabad with their own military drones, helicopter gunships and let's throw in a wide assortment of American military hardware. Islamabad additionally recommends that Washington work on its behalf to reduce Indian influence in Kabul.

Anything for a friend and ally, a trusted and responsible partner in the war against terrorism. A country which, by the way, seems to have no ethical or moral concerns that its own military and intelligence agencies, well infested by religious fanatics, still funds, trains and inspires vicious jihad against neighbour India.

New Delhi must be getting awfully nervous, right about now.

Labels: Conflict, Peace, Political Realities, United States

posted by Pieface @ Saturday, March 27, 2010