Into The Thick of the Battle

Once brimming with activity, the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad has certainly found a place in history, for all the wrong reasons though. The blast at the hotel has left us woebegone for a number of reasons. We simply have to admit that we have not been able to protect our people from becoming the fodder of suicide bombing.

There are a few firsts that came with the death-monger. The intensity of the blast was unprecedented in view of the suicide attacks carried out in Lahore and elsewhere in the past. Another hair-raising aspect of the terror is that it was executed despite extra-ordinary security measures taken by the security agencies. The recent explosion is a grim reminder that the blood-curdling act of taking innocent lives can happen anywhere, anytime. Death is literally patrolling our roads and streets.

The timing of this heinous act tells us something about the backdrop of the undertaking. The US security personnel will be landing in Pakistan sometime soon to train our armed forces in the art of fighting the insurgency. This is certainly adding fuel to the fires of extremism. Even before that, the repeated and frowned-upon violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty had prepared the ground for the terrorists to carry out a strike, and they did.

It is time for Pakistan, if not the US, to seriously redraw the parameters of its so far unconditional support to the war on terror. This thinking has remained confined to policy statements from the politicians as well as the armed forces. Nothing concrete has been undertaken to bring the situation under control.

At a certain level, the government of Pakistan seems to be mindful of the precarious situation in that it is gasping for international support and assistance to: one, highlight to the world the crisis that the Pakistan government is in as a result of fighting the war on terror; and, two: looking for ways to find another pillar of support to counter the US unilateralist incursions. Pakistan’s panic movement in the direction of China is one reflection of the enormity of the situation.

But looked at from a distance, even if there is such an attempt at hand, it is a case of too little too late, or so it seems. The camel has gradually but forcefully entered the tent. At this point in time, given our history of uneven relations with the US from the very beginning, a re-make of our foreign would be an uphill task, if at all such an exercise is being undertaken. This is also because the US has directed its guns towards the Pak-Afghan border area after getting a bloody nose in Iraq. Still, it is argued that a major part of its objectives in Iraq have been achieved — the regime change and occupation of the oil resources.

Now that the US is hell bent to root out extremism from the area, Pakistan finds itself between the rock and a hard place. If it takes the initiative of talking to even those sections of the tribesmen who are inclined to lay down their arms, the US bares its teeth and Pakistan has to take a step back. If the leadership of Pakistan does as it is told by the US administration, that is, intensify military attacks and connive at the US missile attacks inside its territory, Pakistan faces the genie of suicide bombing into its very heart of the government — Islamabad.

On his US visit, President Zardari is likely to convince the Bush administration that the government of Pakistan can deal with the terrorists in its own way and that the US should stay away from directly taking on the terrorists inside Pakistan’s territory.

As before, there are many conspiracy theories circulating around the whole episode. India’s RAW is the main perpetrator, according to one estimate, in collusion with the Afghan government. Another theory goes as far as implicating Pakistan’s intelligence agencies for carrying out the blast for providing the US with the excuse to start and prolong their stay in the region, especially the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

There are no two opinions that the US has destroyed its own case by making attempts to directly deal with the Taliban inside Fata. It is in the interest of the US that Pakistan is given a free hand to deal with the Taliban on its side of the border. The very mention of the US adds to the Taliban’s hatred against it in addition to people who are otherwise not impressed by the Taliban. This is Pakistan’s war now.
The point is if the US is ready to take a pause and give an ear to this line of reasoning? There is little chance that better sense will prevail. The Bush administration is on its last legs and perhaps it wants to put up a resolute face.
But that is certainly not going to serve the US ‘interests’ in the long run.

The task before the PPP government as well as the other coalition partners is to make a convincing case for Pakistan at the international level to win support so that the US revises its policy in respect of the war on terror in this region.