State of war

The Americans have now officially surpassed the Russian presence in Afghanistan. In June, they surpassed their own presence in Vietnam, officially making the Afghanistan/Pakistan war the longest war in American history. Yet another public embarrassment for American foreign wars, and a private success for the perpetual war machine that has increasingly dominated the American economic system.

And what of Pakistan? Twice now it has been America’s greatest ally in a war against the Afghans, but this time, the outcome has been very different. Unlike the war with the Russians, this Afghanistan adventure has been a massive blow to Pakistan-Afghanistan relations. These two neighbors have been successfully divided and conquered by the American war machine. Add that to the spoils of this rotten American war.

Add this too: the damage that has been done to Pakistan itself. Not just the remote-controlled bombings of Pakistani territory and citizenry — though that would have been troubling enough. There is also the visible decline in Pakistan’s progress, the war having consolidated and strengthened successive governments whose primary interest was not with the Pakistani people, land, and economy, thus leading to what is in effect a Pakistani civil war.

Make no mistake of it: when competing groups are bombing city markets and terrorising the public with violence, it is war. And it is Pakistan’s security issues that have led to the economic disaster the country is now facing, an economic disaster resulting from the near freeze of foreign investment including investment from overseas Pakistanis, an accelerated brain drain and an unprecedented energy crisis. All this has bled into an overall image of Pakistan as a corrupt and dangerous pariah.

Further, the reputation of Pakistan as a breeder of terrorism has served a critical blow to the Kashmir cause and legitimised India’s war effort in the disputed territory under the guise of fighting Islamic militants/Pakistani sponsored terrorists.

In the backdrop, there is the issue of millions of castoff Afghan refugees in Pakistan (estimated at around 3.3 Million in 1988 and 5 Million in 2001 in the aftermath of the American invasion). A country that is fighting against rampant overpopulation and poverty has had to contend with a huge refugee problem that brings with it issues such as drug addiction, crime, and violence. Not to mention a whole group of people who are made to feel homeless even in their new home.

Finally, this war has antagonised the Pakistani Pashtuns in the Northwest Frontier Province and Baluchistan and further weakened the fragile union of the four diverse provinces as the Pakistani military — under pressure from the American government — continues its assault on militants that are viewed by many in Pakistan as the true heroes.

Who pays the price for these outcomes? Certainly not those who are responsible. It is always the people who must pay. The poor people who die in Peshawar because they need to go to market that morning. The middle-class people whose businesses have failed due to trade shortfalls, and even the upper-class people. whose sons and daughters risk disrespect and marginalisation anytime they choose to travel abroad.

How did all of this happen? It goes back to the 1980s and the first Afghan war when thousands of training schools and madrassahs built in northwest Pakistan were funded by the Americans to train jihadis to fight against the Russians. In this, the second Afghan war, the exact same madrassahs are being bombed by the exact same government that created them: the United States.

So over nine years after Afghanistan became the first official front in the War on Terror, the only people who have benefited from this war are those who are not civilians, who are not poor, who are not powerless. They are the same ones who benefit from all wars, profiting from the misfortune of others. They can be found in the United States, in Afghanistan, and in Pakistan. Their numbers are few, but their reach is far. Dont believe them when they tell you of their suffering, but you will know who they are because those who are truly suffering have been silenced by their woes.

The writer is US-based political analyst and a fomer Producer for BBC and Al-Jazeera. Follow her on Twitter @ShirinSadeghi