A biased opinion!

By
anjum
-
10
89

Recently, Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official, wrote an article “A Right Royal Mess,” in the Newsweek magazine (Dec 09 and 16, 2011) abhorrently accusing Pakistan Army supporting Afghan Taliban and working against the American agenda. Indirectly, he tried to justify the Salala attack by NATO forces, killing 24 Pakistani soldiers. He started his piece blaming both Pakistan and the USA for mutual deceit and lying to each other. However, to the surprise of every reader, he dramatically shifted his argument proving that the lack of trust from the US was coming from Pakistan’s duplicity.
He writes, “America’s relationship with Pakistan is crashing. Decades of mistrust and duplicity on both sides are coming to the surface. Pakistan Army has an agenda that is at odds with the America’s.” In the next paragraph, again violently attacking Pakistan Army he writes, “It tries to hide its hand, but regularly its troops along the border shelter the Taliban and even provide artillery support. It allegedly harbours their leaders, including, Mullah Omar in Quetta. It gives training and advice to those who kill Americans.” These prejudiced ideas and opinion of Mr Riedel reverberate till the end.
The fact of the matter is it that it is totally a biased article lacking any substance of truth. He deliberately missed the historical facts when, where and how the US had deceived Pakistan in the last six decades of its bilateral relationship. The story of the American deceit goes back to mid 1960s when Pakistan needed American help against its war with India but received none. It was at a time when Pakistan was part of SEATO and CENTO pacts. In 1971, the Indians succeeded in breaking Pakistan into two parts, here again the so-called 7th fleet failed to rescue the unity of Pakistan.
The story of deceit goes on; in early 1980s, Pakistan Army, particularly the ISI, played a major role in defeating the USSR in Afghanistan. Here again Pakistan was abandoned soon after the Russians left our troubled neighbour. It was slapped with stringent sanctions under the notorious Pressler Amendment; the draconian legislation that blocked all kinds of military and economic assistance to Pakistan, so much so that a fleet of F-16’s delivery to Pakistan Air Force was also cancelled for which Pakistan had already made the required payments. In early 1990s, the US aid programme was wound up.
In 1998, India conducted nuclear tests creating a wide imbalance in the fragile South Asian region. It was a sheer hegemonic act clearly threatening the peace and stability of the region. Pakistan with a history of three full-fledged wars with India was left with no other choice but to respond. The Americans instead of supporting Pakistan or at least remaining neutral pressurised it not to respond to the Indians aggression. To cut the story short, Pakistan went ahead with its response and was slapped with military and economic sanctions.
The 9/11 events brought the Americans’ love back to Pakistan. It became closest and the biggest ally in the so-called War on Terror. The love does not stop here; it was given a non-NATO member status along with military and economic aid. But we must remember that there is no concept of passionate love between the states. And the Americans never offer a free launch. They got everything on a single telephone call made to the former president and army chief General Musharraf, who agreed to every American demand including access to air bases, air space, land links for the NATO supply, and intelligence and military cooperation. The worst part of the whole blind deal was when the CIA and its contractors were given free hand to move wherever they wished. The result was the killing of two Pakistanis by CIA contractor (agent) Rymond Davis early this year in Lahore, hundreds of drone attacks in FATA areas killing a lot more civilians than the terrorists, and finally the OBL Abbottabad operation. Pakistan considers the Marines’ secrete midnight mission a mother of all deceits by the US. In fact, it was like stabbing Pakistan in the back.
The story of deceit still goes on and Pakistan is punished for being a frontline state in the international war on terror. During the last 10 years of American war on terror, Pakistan has sacrificed its 35,000 innocent citizens including 4,000 brave soldiers. An already ailing economy has suffered badly with 80 billion dollars of losses. Hardly a place was left in the country which remained safe. Not only this, Pakistan intelligence agencies arrested hundreds of Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders from different parts of the country and its tribal areas and handed them over to the US. But the Americans were still not happy with us. Instead of appreciating Pakistan and its people, we were accused of siding with the terrorists. The US former Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen before his departure as American Armed Forces’ head bluntly blamed Pakistan Army and ISI for supporting the Haqqani Network. He accused that the attacks on the NATO forces and its installations in Afghanistan were planned by Pakistan. What to talk of trust in the face of such an irresponsible statement!
The recent attack by NATO forces on Pakistani troops in Momand Agency is being considered as the last nail in the coffin of Pakistan’s trust on the US. We wish if Mr Bruce Reidel might have mentioned all these facts before lambasting Pakistan and its Army for being a source of all distrust. Pakistan hopes that the Salala attack would teach some kind of lesson to the American leadership in the White House, State Department, Pentagon, CIA and at the Capitol Hill. This is the right time for the US to stop bullying around and lying to Pakistan. It is also hoped that NATO commanders in Afghanistan and at the CENTCOM will show some kind of integrity and professionalism in accepting the responsibility of violating Pakistan’s territorial sovereignty in Momand Agency and killing Pakistani soldiers. If it failed to do so, the distrust and doubts will only widen in the coming days.

The writer hosts a primetime TV
talk show. He can be contacted at [email protected]

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10 COMMENTS

  1. Dear Waheed sb.

    the honesty required by the author is that he or she studies hard before you put something

  2. Dear Waheed sb.

    The honesty required by the author is that he or she studies hard before puting anything before his/her reader.

    It would hv been much better, had you mentioned the amount we took from Americans since the inception of this country.

    You blame America for everything went wrong with Pakistan. For God’s sake, you tell you lost East Pakistan because of America? Have you gone deaf, dumb and blind? What do you talk about?

    What do I comment upon a person who deserves pity the most.

    I feel pity for you and all the folk alike.

    We as a nation are the most apathetic people. We deceive ourselves. We are in an illusions of lunacy.

    Reread every word of your article and repent over it!

    • i have read the history. i dont blame americans for 71. i just said that whenever we needed the US as friend they deceive us. the language you have used in the comment on my article please do think about it.
      whaheed hussain

  3. Mr.Bruce Riedel is an American Jew, at the moment Pakistan is in the cross-hairs of Israel-India axis. American Jews have dual loyalties to US and Israel. The whole American power structure is infused with them. For those of us who have lived in the US we know how Jews have anglicised their names to blend in. It also makes it easier for them to get posting in Islamic countries as diplomats. Unfortunately, Pakistanis are too naive to understand that most anti-Pakistan articles and comments in American media are written by Jewish Israeli-Americans. A lot of them hob-nob with people like Hussain Haqqani and Mansoor Ijaz. Benazir's top advisor, Mark Segal, who is a close friend of Zardari is also a Jew. The ingress of Israelis into pakistan is alarming, I hope our agencies, check the visa applications from america for Jewish infilterators. Most of them are gathering data on Pakistan's atomic program.

    • your comment is disgustingly infused with anti-semitism, you should be ashamed of yourself. maybe if your brothers in palestine (which has never and will never be and independent country) weren't lobbing rockets into israel on a daily basis, israel would like you a little more. oh and the majority of the US media that writes "anti-Pakistan" articles is Christian. And guess what, neither Israel nor India was harboring OSAMA BIN LADEN the worlds most disgusting murderer. And the only americans that go to pakistan are soldiers, spies, and reporters because the rest of us hate you bigoted muslims. why don't you expand your puny racist mind and take a trip to a non-Muslim country. you probably won't want to go back to pakistan. at least in America we have an honest government that doesn't harbor terrorists and provides us with a safe and non-discriminatory place to live. oh and you have confirmed my suspicions- islam is a religion of hate and violence. I pray to the one divine Lord, Jesus Christ, that you see the light, leave that hate filled cesspool you call the Middle East and come to a country like the United States where women can go to the beach in Bikinis and don't have to cover their heads, cowering in fear.

  4. TRUE, AGREE WITH YOU….BLAMING JUST PAKISTAN WILL NOT RESOLVE ISSUES. If Americans honestly want to resolve issues, they need to be honest from bottom of their heart…Look back into history and realize where the problem lies!!! Also they should stop duplicity the example of which can be seen in Kashmir and Palestine and recently in Afghanistan.

    • palestine has never been an independent country. actually, it has been in control of all the countries around it forever. the only people that now have a legitimate claim to Israel is the Israelis. Also, they are the only true democratic republic in the Middle East thus making them the only real FRIEND of any country that does not wish to be controlled by some religious ideology. On Kashmir you are right though. Pakistan has technically owned Kashmir since back in the days of the Ottoman Empire.

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