Trump has his facts right on Pakistan The Statesman 27 Nov 18
Trump has his facts right on Pakistan 27 Nov 18
From January this year, President Trump has been targeting Pakistan on multiple occasions. In a tweet on New Year’s Day, Trump stated, ‘The US has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 Billion Dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies and deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give havens to terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan. No more.” Post this, all aid to Pak came to a halt.
Recently, in an interview with Fox TV, Trump defended his government’s decision to stop military aid to Pakistan, stating the country does not ‘do a damn thing’ for the US and its government had helped al Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden hide near its garrison city.
He added, on Bin Laden, ‘But living in Pakistan right next to the military academy, everybody in Pakistan knew he was there. And we’re giving them 1.3 billion a year. I ended it because they don’t do anything for us.’ With this comment, the Pentagon confirmed that 1.66 Billion aid to Pak has ceased.
Pak responded simply because it had to. Its foreign office summoned the US Charge de affairs and registered a protest. Imran Khan hit back on twitter claiming that US aid to Pakistan was a miniscule 20 billion dollars, while the country lost 75,000 people and more than 123 billion dollars fighting the ‘US war on terror’. He also pointed to the supply routes Pakistan provides to American forces. He added, ‘Can Trump name any other ally that gave such sacrifices.’
Khan even blamed the US for its failures in Afghanistan by adding, ‘Instead of making Pakistan a scapegoat for its failures, the US should do a serious assessment of why, despite 1,40,000 NATO troops plus 2,50,000 Afghan troops and reportedly USD 1 Trillion spent on war in Afghanistan, the Taliban today are stronger than before’.
The Pak COAS also jumped into the discussion. The DG public relations of the Pak army tweeted on behalf of his chief. He stated, ‘Pakistan has done more for peace in Afghanistan than any other country. We have paid the highest military economic, political and social cost and the world should acknowledge that. We shall continue to contribute towards peace in Afghanistan, but Pakistan’s honour and security shall always stay premier’.
The battle of words may sound right, but the reality is vastly different. No Pak soldier fought in Afghanistan on the US side. There was no official report of Pak soldiers fighting al Qaeda or the Taliban even on their side of the border. Post a strike in Aug this year by the US in Ghazni, Afghanistan, where over 400 Taliban were killed, there were reports of injured and killed Pak nationals, fighting for the Taliban, being brought back.
The fact that Pak has sheltered the Taliban is more than true. Every drone strike on Pak soil was aimed at Taliban located within Pakistan. The term ‘Quetta Shoora’ is used to describe where the Taliban and Haqqani network are located. Sartaj Aziz, the ex-Pakistan foreign affairs advisor had stated in the US that Pak has influence over the Taliban and Haqqani network because they reside in the country and some services are provided to them.
When Nawaz warned the Pak army chief that support to terror groups operating in neighbouring countries by the nation’s intelligence agencies and the army were coming under international scrutiny, he was unceremoniously removed. This was the crux of the ‘Dawn Leaks’. This support had also been admitted by Musharraf.
The only elements that the Pak army has acted against in its ‘war on terror’ have been those which are its own creation. Their army attacking the Lal Masjid in July 2007 was its biggest mistake and led to the creation of terrorist organizations which it continues to battle. The attack killed 100 students in a seminary which fed the Taliban and al Qaeda.
Al Qaeda leaders responded calling for revenge and declared an all-out war against the Pak army. Within a year there were 88 bombings which killed almost 2000 and injured over 3000 Pakistanis. The first suicide attack took place within two months of the Lal Masjid incident in the unit lines of the special forces unit which attacked the Masjid, leaving 22 soldiers dead. For the first time in Pak history, military personnel and installations in high security zones were targeted.
Till the Lal Masjid episode, various Taliban groups operated independently in their own regions. Six months post the storming, 40 militant leaders commanding thousands of fighters gathered in South Waziristan to form a united front under the banner of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the group the Pak army has been battling since.
Its anti-Baluch policy of brutality and inhuman treatment to locals in Baluchistan led to the creation of the Baluch Liberation Army (BLA). It was this force which attacked the Chinese Consulate in Karachi last weekend. This is the other group which the Pak army battles.
Hence, Pak has neither contributed or participated in the ‘war on terror’. It is only battling forces which its own flawed policies created. The TTP and BLA are neither involved in Afghanistan nor are contributing to the Afghan Taliban. They are challenging the Pak army.
On the contrary, hoping to secure support from Pak, US drone strikes have struck TTP leaders hiding in Afghanistan, an action which the Pak army has never reciprocated with against the Taliban. The only hold that Pak has and would continue to have over the US is the provision of the Karachi port for supplies, its road space for movement of stores and air space for air and drone strikes.
The fact remains that Pak considers Afghanistan as its backyard and is hopeful of the Taliban coming into power someday, therefore would never risk angering them by either striking or arresting. Imran Khan and General Bajwa are only seeking internal support, fully aware that Donald Trump’s words are true and factual.
About the Author
Maj Gen Harsha Kakkar
Retired Major General Indian Army