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The US is still riding the high horse
Asif Haroon Raja
Pakistans disinclination to kick off another operation in North
Waziristan (NW) at the cost of losing balance
became a sour point which tensed Pak-US relations. It was amid
building tensions that incident of Raymond
Davis took place in January 2011 which further strained
relations. The entire leadership of USA including
Obama lied to get Davis freed on the false pretext that he was a
diplomat. Even when Davis was let off
without interrogation, the US never forgave Pakistan. It got
worked up when the ISI started taking
precautionary measures in the wake of information that large
number of CIA agents under different guises
had sneaked into Pakistan.
CIA was not willing to wind up its network since by then it had
smelt the hideout of Osama Bin Laden (OBL)
in Abbottabad with the help of its agent Dr Shakil Afridi
through his infamous polio vaccination campaign.
Initial intelligence about OBL had been provided by ISI in
September 2010. Pak Armys defiance and space
squeezing by ISI outraged US Secretary Defence Leon Panetta and
it was decided to discredit both the
Army and ISI, give a shot in the arm of depressed US military
and also to catapult political fortunes of
Obama by killing OBL through a stealth operation.
In continuation of its policy of defamation, the US berated Pak
Army and ISI through a sustained media
campaign but when it failed to achieve desired results, it
decided to play up memogate scandal with the
help of Mansoor Ijaz to damage civil-military relations and stir
up clash between Executive and Army.
Admiral Mike Mullen kept the memo forwarded by Pakistans
Ambassador Hussein Haqqani through Mansoor
and Jim Jones in May 2011 in his pending tray for use at an
appropriate time. Haqqani had suggested that a
new security team of Pak Army/ISI under him would enable the US
to fulfill all its objectives against
Pakistan. When all these bullying tactics failed to cow down
Army/ISI, myopic US military leadership in
sheer desperation and anger struck Salala thinking that this act
would for sure frighten Pakistan. It proved
to be the proverbial last straw on the camels back. Instead of
getting frightened, the incident further
steeled the resolve of Pak military.
Pakistan firmed up to take bold decisions to give a clear
message that Americas unilateral intrusions would
not be tolerated. Shamsi airbase from where drones were launched
was closed and so were the two NATO
supply routes to Afghanistan. Pakistan decided to follow its own
anti-terror strategy rather than pursuing
American strategy. Bonn Conference was boycotted and Pak-US
military and intelligence cooperation
ceased. Parliamentary Committee for National Security was asked
to pen down fresh terms of engagement
with USA, NATO and ISAF and to scrutinize all the agreements. Of
all the steps taken closure of supply
routes hurt USA the most and it applied variety of coercive
tactics to force Pakistan to terminate the
embargo without seeking an apology over Salala incident and
asking it to terminate drone strikes.
Pressure tactics included cutting 58% US aid, suspending CSF,
threatening to block rest of the aid if supply
routes were not reopened, initiating a bill in support of
independence of Balochistan, announcing $10 million
award money for Hafiz Saeed, calling Pakistan black hole and a
failing state, threatening to launch another
unilateral military action, prompting India to stand up as the
major power in Asia-Pacific, and to takeover
security duties in Afghanistan post 2014, stirring up Karachi,
rural Sindh, Balochistan, Gilgit Baltistan, and
making some regions in FATA restive that were made peaceful,
inviting President Zardari to Chicago Summit
and then cold shouldering him, and deploying US aircraft carrier
near Gwadar.
Efforts to pour scorn on the Army, FC and ISI on the issue of
missing persons in Balochistan with the help of
local media, human rights activists, Baloch nationalists, Asma
Jahangir, Najam Sethi and their types
continued unabated. The US renewed pressure to eliminate safe
havens of HN in NW, particularly becauseof no let up in attacks by
Taliban in all parts of Afghanistan. Attack by Taliban on Spozhmai
Hotel outside
Kabul on 22 June in which 20 people got killed was again linked
with HN. Finding themselves in a tight
corner, tone of US leaders got more and more menacing with every
passing day. Mutual distrust was
conspicuous and warmth replaced by coldness and romance by
bitterness and acrimony.
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Gen Kayani curtly told the visiting Gen Allen that
notwithstanding his apology, issue of supply lines was
between the states and not the two armies. Hillary Clinton
explained the US political compulsions of not
tendering official apology to Hina Rabbani and asked her to
accept her apology instead. Amid frantic visits
of US military and civilian officials to Pakistan and efforts of
Sherry Rahman to cool down the temperature,
when the DCC meeting took place on 3 July and decided to reopen
supply lines, it appeared that
Washington had finally climbed down from the high horse it was
riding. The people thought that the US had
tendered official apology, accepted new terms of engagement,
agreed to restrict supplies to perishable
items only, agreed to pay transit fee for containers and to
release blocked close support fund for the
military. An impression was given that even the drone policy was
being duly modified to make it less
objectionable.
People wondered how come the government that had all along
obeyed the dictates of Washington slavishly
had taken up such a hard stance and made the US to blink. Their
applauses turned into abuses when they
learnt that the government had once again capitulated without
extracting any of the principled demand
from the US. Washington stuck to its original stance of regret
and refused to offer an apology as in the
case of Afghanistan, or in case of Indian actor Shahrukh Khan.
There is no let up in drone strikes and its
attitude continues to be haughty and discriminatory. Although
the US badly needs supply lines throughPakistan and needs its
intimate cooperation in its endgame, however, it will not desist
from harming
Pakistan through covert war and would continue with its efforts
to make Pakistan a compliant state and
India the unchallenged power of the region. Both sides would
keep distrusting each other and the old
warmth will never return essentially because of unnatural
alliance between the strong and the weak.
Pakistan should play its card shrewdly by providing maximum
support to the ISAF for its safe exit from
Afghanistan and in the bargain ensuring its seat on the
negotiating table for final political settlement of
Afghan issue. This will be possible only if Pakistan gains a
better clout over the Taliban and succeeds in
cultivating friendly relations with Northern Alliance, and
keeping USA mollified. Pakistan should continue
solidifying its relations with China and Iran and improving its
relations with Russia to keep aggressive USA in
check and make it climb down from the high horse.
Elaborate MoU on NATO supplies should be written and a proper
mechanism of checking at Karachi seaport,
exit points at Torkham and Chaman and in between inspection
points should be worked out to ensure that
lethal arms and equipment are not transported. It should also be
ensured that damaged road infrastructure
is repaired by the users and suitable transit fee is charged.
Continuation of supplies should be made
conditional to the US respecting Pakistans sovereignty and
treating it as an ally rather than a foe.
The writer is a retired Brig and a freelance defence analyst.
Email:[email protected]
