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ANALYSIS: A complex romance —Zein Khan

This is obviously a shift in policy as the US has never before attempted to reach out to the Pakistani people. It appears that the current administration has realised the extent of the bitterness it invokes in Pakistan and is willing to make amends

The recent furore in Pakistan surrounding the Kerry-Lugar bill symbolises the suspicion with which virtually the country’s entire socio-political spectrum views the United States. Even the military establishment under current army chief General Ashfaq Kayani that had hitherto abstained from political controversy broke out of mould and went public with an observation that the bill contained unacceptable stipulations.

To put this response into perspective, it is necessary to revisit the country’s chequered relationship with the United States. The Pakistani people feel betrayed and believe that the US has pursued its interests in the region with little regard for the sovereignty of the Pakistani state or appreciation of Pakistan as a land full of people, but rather a chess piece in geopolitics. The thinking goes like this: we joined SEATO and CENTO, gave you bases (Badaber), and sided with you during the Suez crisis and the war against the Soviets. You reciprocated with your unstinting support for dictatorships in Pakistan, ‘ditching us’ in the 1971 war, and abandoning the mujahideen after the signing of the Geneva Accord.

At least some of these grievances are reasonable, as the current Secretary of State Hilary Clinton acknowledged: “We also have a history of moving in and out of Pakistan. Let’s remember that the people we are fighting today are the people we funded twenty years ago... So we then left Pakistan. We said you deal with the stingers that we have left all over the country, you deal with the minds that are along the border and by the way we don’t want to have anything to do with you; in fact we are sanctioning you. So, we stopped dealing with the Pakistani military and the ISI and we now are making up for a lot of lost time.”

The much anticipated KL bill was expected to be the first of such reconciliatory efforts, as Senator Kerry put it, “to transform the relationship between the US and Pakistan into a deeper, broader long term strategic engagement with the people of Pakistan by providing $1.5 billion a year over the next five years and the distinct promise of a longer relationship.”. He added, “We realised that the relationship was not what it ought to be... We realised that there were levels of mistrust and that people thought that it was to much military centric...did not focus on the people and so we specifically sought to change that policy. This bill should be seen as a real sign of the friendship of the American people towards the people of Pakistan, not to the government.”

This is obviously a shift in policy as the US has never before attempted to reach out to the Pakistani people. It appears that the current administration has realised the extent of the bitterness it invokes in Pakistan and is willing to make amends. The US is conscious that radical Islam is helped in its cause by a hawkish American foreign policy, and that what happens in Pakistan affects everybody’s security. The enormity of this task can best be judged by the scale of the media frenzy that one witnessed in the aftermath of the KL bill being made public and also the subsequent response from various Pakistani institutions.

Whilst it is undeniable that the Pakistani ethos encompasses a sensitivity, a severe need to project the country in a respectable manner on the world stage, the extent of the response has an ominous ring to it. Pakistanis are fed up with what they perceive to be American interference in their country’s domestic affairs.

If anything, the US’ resolve to appease the Pakistani people must be strengthened by this powerful rebuff. Put simply, Pakistan cannot be abandoned as almost 40 percent of its population is under the age of eighteen and without adequate education, health facilities and food, and with the current level of anti-American sentiment is perfect fodder for terrorist organisations. Claiming that the KL bill does not contain anything that harms Pakistan’s sovereignty and dispatching Senator Kerry off to Pakistan is an insignificant measure. If the US is serious in its efforts to reach out to the Pakistani people then it must support the campaign in South Waziristan by stepping up both military and civilian aid. This would also indirectly help US efforts in Afghanistan as it would shrink breathing space for the Taliban there.

This case for more aid to Pakistan is not helped by the scepticism that exists within the US Congress, as well as its own difficulties resulting from the economic crisis. The complexities of the US legal system make it very difficult to increase aid without approval from Congress, which due to largely successful Indian lobbying remains uncertain of the Pakistani military’s and the ISI’s resolve to combat extremists.

The US can get around some of these restrictions by supplying equipment that can only be used for counterinsurgency operations. Night vision equipment, combat helicopters, and electronic signals intelligence and intercept equipment are crucial. The US may like to lease rather than donate other equipment to the military as it walks the tight rope between allaying Indian concerns and the need to support the Pakistani people.

The relationship between Pakistan and the US during this period will have immense consequences in the battle against the Taliban in Pakistan. It is in both countries’ interests to work together to resolve the issues that have resulted from letdowns in the past.

If the Pakistani military fails to destroy the Taliban strongholds’ and re-establish the government’s writ in South Waziristan before winter sets in, the lives of its citizens and those of its neighbouring countries will have become endangered many times over. The prospect of the Taliban emerging more formidable from this campaign would cause irreparable damage to the morale of the military and also the Pakistani people who have to deal with suicide bombings in their cities. The US would do well by visibly supporting the Pakistani people at this critical juncture.

The writer is pursuing his doctorate at Oxford University

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