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VIEW: Democracy and the US — IM Mohsin

Pakistan needs genuine democracy. A new chief of army staff should be appointed to separate the army from governance. A national government, including representatives of all mainstream parties, may be necessary to guarantee free and fair elections

In a recent article, Ambassador Richard Holbrook of Clinton-era has endorsed the Bush administration’s professed policy of prolonged occupation of Afghanistan. He is welcome to his opinion but the sum and substance of his argument appears to indicate a disregard of Afghan history. Predicating an assessment of the Afghan people on the brief acceptance of the Taliban regime can make one lose sight of important aspects of the situation. Very few liked that extremist version of Islam and some Afghans offered brave and tenacious resistance to the ousted regime despite enjoying little international support.

After the Soviet Union collapsed, basking in the sunshine of becoming the only superpower, the US had abandoned the Afghans, as well as Pakistanis, who had been instrumental in ending the Cold War. The Afghan War victory had three major dimensions. First, the indomitable will of the Afghans to fight Soviet occupation. Despite sharing this objective with the US they operated as groups of mujahideen. Second, being a tribal society, the Afghans groups failed to evolve an understanding on post-occupation state structures. Apparently, the unity inspired by the jihad was purely anti-occupation. Once the enemy withdrew, the mujahideen groups plunged the country into a civil war that eventually led to the emergence of the Taliban.

Third, the US withdrawal from the country was so hasty that the Afghans as well as Pakistanis felt let down. The US and its allies had mobilised Muslim fighters from all over the world to defeat the Soviet Union. However, seeing the beginning of the end of its arch-adversary, the US dissociated itself from the people in whose name it had been fighting.

The present situation defies an accurate description. Afghanistan remains occupied but the government is “democratic”. President Hamid Karzai claims legitimacy on the basis of “elections” devised and facilitated by occupation forces. The security situation is so bad that Kabul appears to be the Belfast of its worst days. The president is reportedly dependent on the US for his own protection. Even troops at the Bagram base feel jittery on account of the obvious popular hostility. Regarded as a proxy of the occupying-power, President Karzai faces all kinds of problems.

Various conspiracy theories project that Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar live on despite remaining under satellite-based US scrutiny. As US/Allied occupation of Iraq turns into a nightmare and there are increasing reports of a Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan, US feels insecure about its vital interests in the region. The neo-cons who managed to rally public support for their blunders after 2001 have now resorted to blaming Pakistan for “not doing enough”. The “government” in Kabul assumes a similar position to ensure its survival.

Next door, Iran, too, is going through a lot. Just as the Indian occupation of Kashmir and its threatening posture towards Pakistan, particularly during Indira Gandhi’s tenure as prime minister, forced Pakistan to develop its own nuclear deterrence, Iran appears to have reacted to death and destruction in Iraq and its own nomination to the “axis of evil” by deciding to develop its own Weapons of Mass Destruction. The continuous denial of the rights of the Palestinians living under occupation for almost 40 years may have been another factor in the decision. Its newly acquired capability for enrichment of uranium can eventually translate into developing a counterweight to the Israeli threat.

In the interest of global peace, the US and EU must show greater regard for United Nations and international law. Rather than insisting on nuclear apartheid they should work towards eliminating nuclear weapons in accordance with international treaties they are party to. In today’s world security, like peace, is indivisible. All countries have to tailor their policies to meet the new challenges.

To win greater Muslim goodwill in Middle East and Central Asia the US should use its good offices to end the occupation of Palestine and Kashmir. It should also pressure authoritarian regimes, surviving on its support, to make room for genuine democracy. For such regimes’ suppression of mainstream political parties forces more and more people into joining extremists.

Towards Afghanistan’s east, Pakistan, too, needs genuine democracy. A new chief of army staff should be appointed to separate the army from governance. A national government, including representatives of all mainstream parties, may be necessary to guarantee free and fair elections.

The writer is a former interior secretary

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