LOSING THE WAR IN PAKISTAN
Pakistan's uneasy alliance with US
Saturday, 19 July 2008
The US and Pakistan remain allies in the international fight against terrorism but relations have been worsening. The US is accusing Pakistan of failing to rein in Taleban and al-Qaeda militants that take refuge in its border region and, as Barbara Plett reports, there is growing anger among Pakistanis towards the US.
About a thousand soldiers have died since Pakistan joined America's so-called 'war on terror'.
So the funerals of 11 more, killed last month along the Afghan-Pakistan border, should not have been anything unusual.
But those who attended the services described a feeling that had been absent in the past.
Many of the family members were clearly proud. They considered their sons martyrs who had died for the homeland.
Pakistani soldiers who were supposed to be fighting hand-in-hand with US forces against the Taleban had, in fact, been killed by US missiles.
When soldiers here die fighting the pro-Taleban tribesmen in their border region, there is a debate about whether or not they are martyrs. Some religious scholars say that honour belongs to the Taleban, not to troops fighting their own people.
This time, according to those at the funerals, there was no such ambivalence.
These soldiers were killed by Americans... non-Muslims, said the Imams, bent on harming Islamic countries. 'May God destroy the alien forces,' they prayed.
During my time here, there has always been antipathy to American foreign policy, as in other Muslim countries where the 'war on terror' is seen as little more than a war against Islam.
Lately though, the anti-Americanism has swelled to a tide, not only in the border region but in the more Westernised urban centres as well.
Even the usually cloistered American ambassador, Anne Patterson, felt the chill.
'I'm surprised at the depth of anti-Americanism,' she admitted in a recent meeting with Pakistani businessmen, 'especially in the middle classes.'
A few weeks later she was snubbed by a member of that prosperous middle class while handing out awards for academic excellence. A Pakistani university student brushed past her, strode to the podium and made a 20-second protest speech.
The young man, who is studying at Harvard, became a celebrity. He was praised by the media and inundated with thousands of messages of support.
His moment of defiance was endlessly replayed on YouTube.
In his speech he told the ambassador he was protesting against 'repeated US air strikes that kill many innocent Pakistanis,' and what he said was US tacit support for an unconstitutional president.
He was referring to George Bush's support for Pakistan's erstwhile military leader Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a coup.
The US president called the general Washington's most 'allied ally' in the international fight against terrorism. Pakistanis called him 'Busharraf'.
But cynicism turned to anger when Mr Bush continued to back his friend, despite a popular movement against Mr Musharraf for illegally purging the judiciary and despite the defeat of the president's supporters in February's general elections.
America's key relationship in Pakistan has been with the army, especially since 9/11.
Put simply, the US pays the Pakistani army billions of dollars to fight the 'war on terror'.
US legislators refer to this relationship as transactional but many Pakistanis say it is mercenary.
In recent trips with the army to the border region, I got the feeling the tag is beginning to hurt.
The military's high profile cooperation with the Americans has triggered waves of revenge attacks within the country, many targeting the army.
There is a growing sense that Pakistan has been sucked into an unwinnable war.
There is no war in Pakistan, you say
Oh yes there is, and it’s vital today
But that war may already be lost
And to America at such a cost
Due to bad decisions and so much death
The Pakistanis cursed under their breath
But now a point has been reached
Where all trust and belief seem to be breached
There is open dissent at America’s support
For the man they call ‘Busharraf’ and they exhort
No more co-operation with those who support him
And the link with America grows ever more dim
So what happens in those border lands
If Pakistan now rejects American demands
With the greater war moving from Iraq to Afghan
America may lose BOTH wars in Pakistan.
By KANEIX
© 2008 KANEIX
(All rights reserved)
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