American educationist Ms Christine Fair’s “Ten Fictions” speaks of the mindset of treating a front-line ally as its stooge with whom strategic dialogue can’t be held, but only a “transactional relationship” can be maintained. She pleads for putting more weight on India’s side that has “disappointed” Washington by not allowing itself to playing “contain-China” tool as it has not readied itself to putting at stake its over $100m trade with China. That’s why Hegel is compelled to call the Far East Asia as America’s pivot – the new strategic doctrine that is aimed at strengthening Japan and South Korea against China.
Ms Fair is not fair in drawing conclusions that the Haqqani network and allied militant groups were and still are being aided by Pakistan. Everyone knows that Islamabad has been in the forefront when Americans wanted to open an office of the Taliban in Doha, and subsequent efforts to hold US-Taliban dialogues. Former COAS Gen Kayani’s various presentations in Rawalpindi, Kabul and Brussels were convincing. Gen McChrystal’s dissenting note pointed to the fact that war was not going to be won.
More than 6,000 attacks by the Afghan Taliban across Afghanistan in the last eight months, and frequent body bags loaded at the US soil gradually grew hatred against war amongst the Americans. Had there been a support from Pakistan’s side, how could there have been an equal number of attacks and deaths at the hands of Pakistani Taliban across Pakistan? It is unfair rather an insult to the sacrifices of Pakistanis. In fact Pakistan is not only victim of TTP terrorism fuelled by drone strikes, but also target of diplomatic and propaganda terrorism, that too in the line of ‘friendship’, whose most of the benefits were cashed in on by Pakistan’s adversary India that, on the sidelines, perpetrated insurgent war in Balochistan.
ESCHMALL SARDAR
Peshawar