- Mike Pompeo’s anti-Pakistan outpouring
They look like a more toxic version of George W. Bush’s kamikaze neo-con team, Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle, which finalised US invasion of Iraq in March 2003, on misleading and flimsy grounds, ideologically to remake and remodel the Middle East along democratic lines. We are now witnessing another dangerous alignment of US hardliners, National Security Advisor John Bolton, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, CIA Director Gina Haspel, and blinkered Nicki Haley, ambassador to UN, advocating variously, strikes on Iran and North Korea, rejection of two-state solution in Palestine, tolerance to torture during interrogation and Islam-phobia, but the world’s warning bells are tolling shriller because the boss this time round is the wildly uninhibited, impulsive, even surreal, incumbent White House occupant.
Bolton’s arrogant comparisons with Libya have recently stalled the much-heralded breakthrough talks with North Korea, while the hidebound view has also prevailed in the potentially warlike, unilateral abandonment of Iran nuclear deal and provocative shifting of US embassy to Jerusalem, in homage to the real puppet-master, callously glossing over genuine Palestinian claims and in violation of international law. For Pakistan, the big picture is one of multifaceted present and future dangers, as rapidly deteriorating relations with the US are exacerbated by Washington’s warming ties with India and injection of force-multiplier weaponry in Indian arsenal by Israel, forming the eternal triangle! The US has deliberately ditched its former close ally, ostensibly for providing safe havens to Haqqani network, but actually due to its strategic change of direction, drastically reduced coalition support funding, put economic pressure to place already financially-dehydrated Pakistan on FATF money laundering list, and imposed 25 mile radius limit on its diplomats’ movement. Relations hit another low with Mike Pompeo’s Wednesday statement before Congress about alleged mistreatment and hampering work of US diplomats by Pakistan, release of Dr Shakeel Afridi, of further drying up shrivelled aid, with habitual Pakistani-bashers, Congressmen Brad Sherman and Dana Rohrabacher chipping in with their own pet themes of ‘forced disappearance’ in Sindh and elsewhere. Unfortunately, damaging, sensational statements by persons under judicial siege have encouraged antagonists, apart from fomenting internal strife, when presenting a united front to the keenly watching world was crucial.