US should stop ‘do more’ mantra by G B Shah Bokhari

A message from the US President Barack Obama recently handed over to the President Asif Ali Zardari, would suggest, in plain language, that the Pakistan Army should extend protection to the American troops against Taliban attacks inside Afghanistan: Pakistan Army's full scale engagement in operation Rah-e-Raast and Rah-e-Nijaat notwithstanding.
President Obama's national security adviser, General James Jones, was here in Islamabad last week with the message that the new American strategy in Afghanistan would work only if Pakistan expanded its activities beyond the militants attacking Pakistani cities and security forces and fought groups that use havens in Pakistan for planning and embarking attacks against American troops in Afghanistan, as well as support al-Qaeda network. In Islamabad, while dilating on war on terror, General Jones praised the current combat performance of Pakistani army in South Waziristan but went beyond his mandate as an official guest when he suggested that the army should fight militants who have fled into North Waziristan. Ipso facto, it is the sole prerogative of the commander whose troops are engaged in a battle to deploy them when and where according to the unfolding situation with a special proviso that the field commander's next move is not divulged to the opposing forces for maintaining the element of surprise. The American guest should have been aware that the Pakistan army's hands are full taking on militants in Malakand Division, South Waziristan and keeping a high vigil against suicide squads that are regularly sneaking into public places and security installations deep inside the country. In the two ongoing operations Rah-e-Raast and Rah-e-Nijaat, the army has sacrificed more than 2000 soldiers .while another 3000 have suffered life-crippling injuries. Fighting the faceless militants in crowded lanes and streets in the cities is an enormous task before the government to restore peace and confidence of its citizens. With its limited resources how can the Pakistan army be expected to extend its mandate beyond the country's borders to protected the highly equipped forces of a super power? Pakistan has also to fulfil its primary task to keep its eastern borders protected from perpetual Indian threat which has fought three wars and never misses any opportunity to destabilise Pakistan. Foreign countries that have a stake in Afghanistan are unwilling to commit more troops in Afghanistan since the host country is exuding no signs of a will to take on the militants seriously. Member countries of NATO are hesitant to send troops to Afghanistan on the plea that the past eight years' corrupt and inefficient regime of President Karzai has squandered their military efforts. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has expressed apprehensions that their government cannot waste their tax-payers money on aiding a (Afghan) regime that is incapable of delivering results. The American people too are reluctant to send more troops to Afghanistan in response to the 40,000 troops demand of General Stanley A McChrystal, the top NATO Commander in Afghanistan. Here lies a message to President Obama. Instead of asking Pakistan to "do more" to fight for a neighbouring country the Americans should shore up Karzai government and infuse confidence in Afghan National Army to stand firm on its own feet against militants so that the new American strategy would succeed in the region. The Obama message, sent through General James Jones, partly alludes to Pakistan's apprehensions that the Americans were planning an exit (from Afghanistan) strategy and therefore need Pakistani soldiers to extend their commitment to combat militants beyond its borders inside Afghanistan. Secretary of State, Hilary Rodham Clinton, while appearing for an ABC programme declared, "We are not staying in Afghanistan. We have no long term stake there. We want that to be made very clear." The fear in the minds of Pakistani officials that the 1989 drama when after defeat of Soviet army in Afghanistan, the Americans abandoned the region that brought about a chaos, may be replayed in 2010-11, seems to be on factual grounds. In that eventuality Pakistan will be adversely affected as the inefficient corrupt regime of Karzai is still not ready to withstand the resurgence of Taliban and al-Qaeda forces. While asking Pakistan to do more in the war against terror, American commanders are not providing any kind of support to Pakistani troops when the situation so demands. Five days before the launching of operation Rah-e-Raast in South Waziristan, some of the vital border check posts on Afghan side, adjoining the operational area were abandoned by the US-led NATO forces. This unwarranted action indicates that the NATO forces were not willing to engage with fleeing militants from Pakistan side. Ideally, the NATO forces should have blocked the exit from Pakistan of the fleeing militants acting like anvil when the Pakistani troops were striking against the militants like a hammer. Conversely, abandoning border posts at a time when Pakistani troops were wreaking havoc on the militants, reinforcements from the Afghan Taliban could freely cross over to help their beleaguered colleagues. It appears that the ISAF-NATO operations have been aimed more at causing a push to Afghan terrorists into Pakistan than at engaging them in a fight. Pakistani forces could then be coaxed to fight the Afghan terrorists on Pakistani soil. Before quitting Afghanistan the US should first cleanse up the mess they have created in Afghanista as a consequence of landing of American forces followed by their inability to bring semblance of peace and tranquility even after passage of eight years. While asking Pakistan to do more, despite its all out engagement in the fight against terrorism, the Obama government ignores the negative role India is playing to fuel terrorist activities in the region. Pakistani leaders including Prime Minister Sayed Yousaf Raza Gilani and Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, have brought to the notice of US administration involvement of the Indian government in stoking terrorism in Balochistan, FATA and interior parts of the country. An enquiry in the deadly bomb blast that took place at Khyber Bazaar Peshawar last month revealed that the explosive material used in the blast was also used in exploding India's Samjhota Express in which 68 passengers mostly Pakistani were killed. Later, the master mind of the explosion a serving senior Indian army officer with leaning towards Hindu extremist party RSS, Lt Colonel Prohit was apprehended by the Indian authorities investigating the case. Very recently, middle of November, during a meeting that took place between the Director General ISI, Lt General Ahmad Shuja Pasha and the visiting American CIA Chief spy, Leon Penetta, Pasha presented shocking evidence about Indian efforts aiding terrorism in Balochistan, Waziristan and the interior parts of the country. Before formulating its new strategy about Pakistan and Afghanistan the Obama administration must urge and ensure that India keeps its hands off from supporting militants who are wreaking havoc in Pakistan and impeding the army's efforts to put an end to terrorism in the region. We are friends of America but let us not be put off by what Henry Kissinger had once remarked," It is often dangerous to be an enemy of the United States but to be a friend is fatal."

Comments