Contrary to the perception that Pakistan is poised to adopt a pragmatic and realistic policy towards the United States, relations between the two countries, though disturbed in the post-Osama scenario, have not reached the point of a break-up as the mood in Washington and Islamabad is to continue cooperation and engagement despite the fact that some elements in the US Congress want suspension of aid to its frontline ally in the war against terrorism, with similar voices here also calling for taking the world power head-on.
Talking to a group of editors and senior journalists, a high-level security official, however, said: “The US attack on Osama’s compound has a far-reaching impact on Pak-US relations but we have plainly made it clear that it will be difficult to assuage the public opinion in Pakistan in case of one more such action.” He said US Senator John Kerry, who also met President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, had a frank and candid discussion with Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and the latter clearly put across Pakistan’s position and the anger the Abbottabad action generated across the country.
Dispelling the impression that Pakistan and the US had ended cooperation with each other, the official admitted that it was a difficult situation but said: “The US administration wants to continue engagement with us despite some elements in the Congress opposing this.” He admitted that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) did not know about the US action in Abbottabad as was it ignorant about Osama’s presence there.
He said the purpose of a briefing to parliament and a joint resolution was to give a message that the army, political leadership and parliament were all on the same page. About the intelligence failure, he said the US used stealth technology when its helicopters had entered Pakistani airspace, and the air force radars were not sensitive enough to detect such a target. He said the situation on the eastern borders was a different one. “…And India knows that we can retaliate in case of any aggression.” On Osama, he said he had a support system and facilitators.
“This is a mindset which can be changed with better intelligence, good governance and improvement in economy… those who want us to stop dependence on the United States, IMF and World Bank should pay taxes,” he said without mincing his words, explaining that there were some fault-lines “and we have to survive with these fault-lines otherwise we will be diplomatically isolated and considered a part of the problem”.
He said shooting down the drones would make the US use to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif’s statement one day after the joint session. “It was unfortunate,” he remarked. Brushing aside the perception of inadequate security of Pakistan’s nuclear assets, the official said: “They (the nuclear assets) are very well-guarded… they are dispersed and their components are also not at one place… everyone knows that if our nuclear assets are hit, we have the capacity to retaliate… even if some of them are hit, we will still have the capacity to retaliate.” He felt confident in suggesting that the US was not interested in Pakistan’s nuclear assets.
The official said if need be, the armed forces were ready for an operation in North Waziristan and 40,000 troops were already there. “We have the capacity to launch an operation in North Waziristan but we need a political consensus to move… but before any military action there has to be a follow-up strategy which needs amendments in the Anti-Terrorism Act,” the official said, referring to the Swat operation, which, according to him, was unparalleled but problems still remained unaddressed as an effective law could not be enacted. He said it was for the prime minister to formulate a policy and get it approved by the cabinet and parliament for “us to implement it”.
“The law of evidence and the prosecution capacity of the state are weak… it is not possible to set up military courts for punishing the terrorists… the terrorists are released because of weak cases… we need to change our law like the United States and other countries have done,” the official said, adding that it was the responsibility of the political leadership to move in this direction. Rejecting the notion that the ISI or some elements in it were in bed with the Taliban or al Qaeda, he said: “Had this been the case, the incidents of terrorism would have been more than three times what we have already faced. We killed seven out of 10 members of the Quetta shura… it is not possible that the ISI and the army are working at cross purposes.”
However, the official said it was not possible for any intelligence agency to work without inroads in any network. “No intelligence agency can function without contacts but it does not mean that we are in cahoots with the terrorists… there are different channels to maintain contacts without having a direct line of communication and this is what the army chief had also conveyed to the CIA chief… we don’t keep any direct contact, somebody else does it for us,” he said. To a question about the army’s role in politics, he said the army chief, as a policy, had reduced his interactions with politicians and he would only meet the chief ministers.
“We do not interfere in political matters,” he said, adding that it was a time for the nation to boost the morale of the army and the ISI because if their image was damaged it would be dangerous for the country. On Afghanistan, the official said the US had accepted Pakistan’s role in its exit strategy. “We have a seat on the table along with others to talk to the Taliban,” he said, adding that with the political compulsions in the United States the process of troops’ withdrawal could be hastened.
