Something is brewing up. It’s in the air, or at least that is what the Pakistani security establishment thinks. The US is finally going to do something about the Haqqani network, which they believe is based in Pakistan. An allegation as serious as that shifts the burden of proof on the Americans. But they aren’t shy about that. Ambassador Cameron Munter said the other day that his government could prove their accusations. What does the Pakistani government do now? Huff, puff and launch off into an angry tirade? Perhaps use humour, an attempt at hyperbole and say that next the Americans will be saying Osama Bin Laden himself was also in Pakistan? Well, recent events have severely curtailed the space needed for outrageous hyperbole.
But it is not merely their presence in Pakistan that the US government is suggesting. The suggestion is of a link between the Haqqanis and the powers that be within Pakistan. Nothing wrong with links, per se, certain mouthpieces have now taken to saying; you don’t find out about the devil hanging out with angels and all that. Is that an admission of some sort? Meanwhile, on the other front, almost as if on cue, Sirajuddin Haqqani, in a phone interview, has said that his group is no longer in the border region between the two countries.
What is all this to mean? Just the other day, in a lecture at the Harvard Law School, John Brennan, the White House’s counter-terrorism advisor, said that his government reserves the right to engage and pursue enemies into countries whose governments are “unwilling or unable to take the necessary actions themselves.” This argument is, of course, in line with the newer schools of thought in international relations that deem sovereignty to be a privilege that has to be earned.
Matters are further complicated in the midst of the planned US talks with the Taliban, weakening the case within the Pakistani deep state for an all-out offensive against the militants. This will lead to an inaction on the Haqqani front. Expect some movement in the coming times.
