Double duplicity

Either our politicians don’t understand the nature of the changes in Pak-US relations or they think that the back and forth of disgruntled complaints between the two countries is nothing but a joke. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have exhibited such a nonchalant attitude as if everything was a-okay. But it is not so. We are stuck between a rock and a hard place. And this is not some spat with a neighbour; it’s a tussle with world’s only superpower which is enraged by the duplicity of our rulers.

The Americans allege that Musharraf and his successors took money and weapons from the US by becoming its ally on the one hand but helped the warriors who were attacking American forces with the same resources on the other hand. The US protested repeatedly and demanded that the sanctuaries and secret centres of these terrorists within Pakistan be uprooted and these elements be stopped from crossing over into Afghanistan and attacking US forces. Our rulers kept avowing that they were proactively pursuing the terrorist but these terrorist continued to operate out of Pakistan unabated. This is why, while accepting our avowals, the US kept up with its “do more” mantra; they meant that what you guys are doing or claim to be doing is all well and good but you guys need to step it up because our forces in Afghanistan are still being attacked from elements operating from your country. But all we did was make a farce of the American demands.

We weren’t just committed to the US but to the entire international community that we would carry out operations against Al-Qaeda. The US kept demanding that we help it in nabbing bin Laden. Our answer was always the same: OBL isn’t in our country. Instead of impugning our claim, America said that OBL was ensconced in Afghanistan somewhere and then our reply was ‘go find him and then tell us.’

Eventually, the US smoked out OBL and reached his hideout after which we were found to be protesting quite lividly. Why did the US keep this operation classified? This needs some explaining. When their was cooperation between our agencies, secret intel was also exchanged. The Americans complained that the terrorist Pakistan was provided information about, instead of being targeted, they were given a chance to scarper. Pakistan denied this allegation. This complaint of the US also persisted in the case of the drone attacks. The few high value targets that were identified absconded successfully and the US suspected that it was Pakistan that let this happen. From then onwards, the drone attacks were conducted unilaterally. Obviously, when relations between two allies reach such a state, maintaining trust then becomes a big ask.

The US also left nothing to be desired in crossing Pakistan the wrong way. When they invaded Afghanistan and asked for our help, they guaranteed that the new government would be set up in consultation with the Pakistani government. But as soon as the Taliban were ousted, the US initiated contacts with the Northern Alliance and Pakistan was totally left out of the process of setting up a government in Kabul. Whatever negotiation took place in this regard, we were kept out of the loop and the Northern Alliance was installed led by a Pakhtun, Hamid Karzai. Obviously, this was insidious chicanery with Pakistan. We tolerated this Karzai-led government for long but it started to establish closer ties with India and started patronising anti-Pakistan elements in its homeland.

Thus, the mutual trust deficit between the US and Pakistan can’t be blamed on one party alone. Both are responsible and, in fact, the US started it by double crossing us first. Our government’s PR departments are bereft of skills and can’t compete with the media management behemoths of a superpower. Which is why we couldn’t present the case of America’s duplicity with proficiency and tact in front of the international audience. When the US charges us of being double-faced, we don’t argue our case properly because it was indeed the US that started it. On the other hand, the US PR machinery has thoroughly convinced the world of our treachery.

This trust deficit persists till today and it’s difficult to address and disentangle issues in a state of such mistrust. These issues are becoming further muddled. And that is the difficulty we face. We don’t know what our fate will be at the hands of the US once it pulls out of Afghanistan. Will Kabul be handed over to a government that is decidedly anti-Pakistan and desirous of being an Indian ally? If so, what will we get out of antagonising Afghan warriors? Then we will definitely be in a lurch. Because we will have an anti-Pakistan in Kabul on the one hand, and armed warriors lodged in our own land also turning against us on the other. And it’s not that improbable that the US start backing these warrior elements once they train their guns on us. As a matter of fact, this has been the de facto state of affairs for a long time. Even the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is being fuelled by American money and arms. When our forces were negotiating a peace deal with a tribal elder whose tribe was up in arms against the army, he came to our commander’s table in an occasion celebrating laying down of arms. He put a bag on the table and said, “Look at these weapons; which country’s stamp do they bear? Look at this money; which country’s currency is this?” No points for guessing they were American.

It is our misfortune that the US has labelled us as the duplicitous one whereas it isn’t clean and blameless itself. Far from it. Pakistan had to adopt this duplicitous policy as a protective measure against the US’ double gaming. I will go so far as saying that we reserved the right to protect OBL given the dangers that the US has created for us by patronising an anti-Pakistan government in Kabul. This is not the case but even if we have done so hypothetically, what’s so wrong with that?

Matters are fast spiralling out of control. But our politicos, unaware of how we are fast heading into this vortex, are busy politicking. They couldn’t even convene an all parties’ conference to have a consensus on how to protect Pakistan’s interest in the face of this situation in flux.

The writer is one of Pakistan’s most widely read columnists.