That Pakistan has told the high-powered Hillary Clinton-led US delegation that “it is ready to facilitate its talks with the Taliban, but cannot become a guarantor to the negotiating process”, leaves us to understand that the American focus is not to eliminate the Taliban, but to eliminate the hurdles towards its scheduled exit. The hurdle it seems has not been the McCrystal-formula of ‘talk to Taliban’ but the Petraeus-priority of ‘don’t talk’, that too involving Pakistan. If it is true, it shows the position of weakness amidst attempts to find in Pakistan an escape goat.
The American ego does not allow them to withdraw with an impression that Afghanistan has proved another Vietnam for Washington. This now proves as true Gen Kayani’s right assessment that America will think ten times before going for an offensive in Waziristan. Otherwise, the general leadership of Pakistan looked to have come under the pressure of propaganda that showed what was on the surface and not the bottom. Here we need, like Gen Kayani, right assessment of the situation at right time. That’s why the leadership has been able to warn that “Pakistan must not be blamed in case of failure of attempts by the US for reconciliation with the Taliban as it does not spoon-feed them.”
Gen Kayani had earlier in his briefing to parliamentarians said that like every intelligence agency of the world, ISI has to have established contacts with Haqqani and other groups – a prerequisite for garnering inside information. It doesn’t mean that Pakistan has relations with HN. “Contact with the Haqqani group is there, but they are not in our pocket,” was the message put across during the crucial meeting between Pakistan and US last Friday.
If the United States’ focus remains to be smooth and ‘honourable’ exit from Afghanistan, then there is no harm on Pakistan’s side to help move forward the reconciliation process on its terms, but at the same time Pakistan will have to reduce to zero-level possibility of committing blunders. This we have to see unless Afghanistan and its US-Nato allies cooperate with Pakistan in dealing with Fazlullah-like Pakistan-wanted terrorists, how we shall continue facilitating the Americans against the Haqqani network or other groups.
F Z KHAN
Islamabad