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CENTCOM blackout on Pakistan

By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has removed all information on Pakistan from its website, after a report in Daily Times on May 18 saying that by joining the US-led war in Afghanistan, Pakistan had lost $10 billion.

The section of the CENTCOM website that contained details of what role Pakistan was playing in ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’ also contained write-ups listing what each country that had joined the US-led coalition had contributed. Barring the references to Pakistan, the rest of the website is untouched.

Sources told Daily Times this appears to have been done at the instance of the Pakistani government, which has revealed few if any details so far, of what precise part it was playing in the operation against Al Qaeda and its remnants.

The CENTCOM section on Pakistan revealed that Musharraf’s joining Operation Enduring Freedom had “adversely affected the already fragile economy of Pakistan.” It said, “Major losses were caused to civil aviation, tourism, investment and shipping due to the rise in the rates of insurance. Besides this, Pakistani exports and foreign investments also suffered” resulting in a loss of $10 billion between September 2001 and October 2002. CENTCOM also said what must have come as a “shock” to the Pakistani people that contrary to the Musharraf government’s claims that Pakistani facilities had not been used to carry out operations against Afghanistan, as many as 57,800 ‘sorties’ or air attacks were ‘generated’ either from Pakistan’s air space or from Pakistan’s soil.

After Pakistan’s policy reversal on the Taliban, it appears that the Pentagon was given the “run of the place and the freedom of Pakistan’s skies”. To facilitate the launching of air operations into Afghanistan, Pakistan provided as much as two-thirds of its air space as air corridor to the coalition forces, necessitating the rescheduling or redirecting of many commercial PIA flights. Five air bases/airfields were handed over to the forces as was the blanket concession that in case of emergency, coalition planes could land anywhere in Pakistan. The extent of the air war can be judged from the fact that on average, 0.4 million litres of fuel per day was provided to US forces. This was over and above “other services” on the bases used by the coalition.

Sources said the Pakistan Navy provided a landing facility to coalition ships at Pasni. At sea, the Pakistan Navy was obliged to curtail its operations and training to facilitate the coalition’s naval forces. According to the US Marine Corps Gazette of June 2002, the coalition’s naval operations at Pasni were “the largest amphibious operations in size, duration and depth that the Marine Corps had conducted since the Korean War.

CENTCOM said measures taken to “penetrate” Tribal Areas included Tora Bora operations which “provided a window of opportunity to penetrate these areas which was (sic) capitalised by quickly moving the Army in Tirah Valley which captured 250 Al Qaeda/Taliban fleeing into Pakistan.” Later the Pakistan Army along with the Frontier Constabulary extended its operations to Miran Shah and Wana.

“In return, tribals have been offered a sizeable development package in terms of “provision of basic facilities like communication infrastructure, health, education and employment opportunities,” according to CENTCOM. The same analogy was being followed in North and South Waziristan Agency to prevent the slipping in of Al Qaeda/Taliban into Coalition-held territory. CENTCOM said a raid carried out with the help of Pakistani security forces in Azam Warsak, Wana, on 25 June last year that cost Pakistan the lives of two officers and 13 other ranks, showed Pakistan’s resolve to not only “drain the swamp” but also nab the “alligators.”

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