Obama’s Afghan policy & Pak crisis

Ali Ashraf Khan




First 50 days of President Obama in White House is reflective of inconsistency in his words and deeds, he first promised to change the old system of governance but now that system is closer to his heart. His recent address to the Congress President Obama though gave a hope that his financial stimulus package will do away with the dangers looming over the sky of America. While he was denouncing the leakage and plunder of American resources by the corporate culture and the big wigs which he vowed not to allow any more, that was not an uphill task but his ill conceived stimulus plan has been termed as partial nationalization to promote socialistic trend in the West.




The US war in Iraq & Afghanistan has been a major reason for the financial drain in the budget, but President Obama's promise to plug all this for ever may not bring any change. He has already ordered the closure of torture camps in Guantanamo and elsewhere, while the B'aagram torture camp in Afghanistan is allowed to operate with few hundred illegal detainees who were reported as missing persons in the Pakistani courts, which is perhaps one of the reasons for on-going judicial crises. Then we saw a sudden shift in his commitment that he wants to further escalate the war on the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the plea that there are hideouts of those foreign terrorists who were first planted and promoted by Americans in their Jihad against Soviet forces in 1979, who are now bad guys because they are threatening the national security of America.




When at the same time a peaceful Pakistan has been turned through external machinations and conspiracies ready to be declared a terrorist country to suit their colonization agenda, which Pakistanis have now realized after seeing the recent diplomatic race of foreign ambassadors meeting politicians on the issue of long march.




There can not be a bigger tragedy or threat to world peace when President Obama says that he will win the war in Afghanistan militarily by just devising a new carrot and stick policy, while Germany and Great Briton has openly admitted that it was a wrong move to support Afghan war, President Obama will have to remember this bitter fact that Afghanistan and Pakistan can prove as a black hole and suck everything the USA has including their annual income of around $ 3 trillion from drug money reportedly earned from Afghanistan, which President Karazai has also pointed out saying that opium crop cultivation has increased over the years instead of curtailment in the areas which are in control of foreign troops.




President Obama had also promised to restore the American glory, which has suffered badly as a result of all that warfare, Why he has changed his stance and now talking about a possible dialogue with moderate elements of Taliban, which would be less than 5% so why not talk to the mainstream leaders if the purpose is to win permanent peace and not play politics. Afghanistan has been on their nerves for quite some time and reports reveal that President George W. Bush had immediately on assuming power consulted Dick Chinney who had suggested to exploit Afghanistan and Iraq for colonization of resources to fill their own coffers also so the role of Halliburton and others was reinvented and today President Obama is running after the stray dog with caring to bring the culprits in US to face a trial on the same analogy under which Sudanese President Omaral Bashar has been declared a war criminal by the International Court of Justice. Is not President Bush and his coterie a fit case to be tried on the charges of War crimes and Crime against humanity, I suggest that leader of frontline ally former President Musharraf and his coterie should also be made to face the bar of justice for death of thousands of innocent people in and around Pakistan in their adventure to retain power by turning the world peace into a permanent death trap, from where it is not possible for any one to bail out and that is why the world is engulfed with an unprecedented turmoil. It is unfortunate that even now Pakistani rulers are supporting this proxy war in Afghanistan calling it a threat to American security in which Islam has become their target to win military and financial support from the West, who are not ready to understand that 'the bogey of terrorism' is fully exposed and now the rich and poor countries of the world are struggling for their own survival. It is a good omen that Peace has been restored in Swat area, World was stunned with the turn of events in Pakistan when the NWFP Government negotiated a truce with.




The Movement for Enforcement of Shari"ah, which was also endorsed by local Taliban leaders, the moot question arises why can't we open dialogue on the issue instead of following the American agenda, which during electioneering President Obama was opposing and now he is toeing the dotted lines of Bush doctrine and claiming to win this war with the glitter of dollar, which Senator John Kerry and Lugger are going to ink in next few weeks to cancel much-talked-about Biden-Lugar Bill, promising $15 billion economic assistance to Pakistan, over a ten years time, which expired because of inaction on the part of the previous US administration and the Congress. However, now people say that the bill would be revived as another lollipop to compromise our sovereignty.




The Biden-Lugar Bill was unanimously adopted by the Foreign Relations Committee of the US Senate in July 2008 on the occasion of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's visit to the United States. At that time, it was described as heralding of a new era in bilateral relations and the bill was dubbed as boosting of ties with Pakistan. As per version of Pakistan's ambassador, the previous Congress could not find time to take up the legislation and hoped that it would be adopted in a few weeks.




Whatever the reason the fact remains that the United States shifts it policy keeping in view its requirements and so it takes too much time in finalizing such assistance and attaches so many conditions to the aid. Even reimbursement of the expenses on account of war on terror is withheld for months without any solid reasons, deepening the impression that the administration uses financial and other assistance as a pressure tactics. In this case too, it is quite evident that the US administration was not treating it as priority legislation despite financial woes of Pakistan. The bill was passed unanimously by the powerful Senate committee making it a bipartisan commitment and, therefore, its passage by the Congress would not have posed any problem for the administration. However, the authorities preferred to let it die down and it is quite obvious that even if the bill was revived the process would take months to materialize.




The United States has demonstrated similar approach to the initiative of 'Friends of Democratic Pakistan', as despite passage of many months the Forum could not hold any senior level meeting to consider any worthwhile package for the crises ridden country. All this makes it clear that our leaders and diplomats get excited over lollipops and lack diplomatic art of negotiating skills to get something concrete at an appropriate time like this when President Obama has come out and admitted that US can not win Afghanistan militarily and thus suggests dialogue with the moderate Taliobans to make their life easy. Why our rulers are not able to see the writings on the wall and change our strategy in the best national interest of Pakistan instead of American interest?




Memories of people in Pakistan are fresh to recall the reiteration of former President George W. Bush when he boasted that the President Musharraf has assured him to restore Genuine democracy after general elections in 2007, the out come of which is before us all, no body has questioned why Richard Boucher was sent to finalize the draft for national reconciliation, which is considered the cause of present divide and how the popular leader of PPP was assassinated and evidence from the scene was washed away. No FIR was registered and PPP was satisfied to win sympathy votes, on the other hand PML (N) won more than expected inspite of all the hurdles and PPP formed a lose national unity government, which back tracked from its commitments and the result is the nation is at a cross road within one year of elections. National institutions are destroyed in this melee drama and God forbid our sovereignty has been put at stake in which our neighbours and friends have started haunting us.




Now when the Chinese have also conveyed their suggestion on Afghanistan asking Ms. Clinton four things recently, what a shame for our leaders who are playing in the hands of their foreign masters and destroying everything we have, the four things are: Stop destabilizing Pakistan. Resolve Kashmir. Stop the war in Afghanistan and work with Russia. These few requests made at a time when Ms. Clinton was visiting China asking for huge favors from Beijing have a very strong effect on world affairs. It is therefore our humble request to all segment of society to play their role in these critical moments of time and save Pakistan from these vultures inside and outside playing the game of musical chairs, which we cannot afford any further.




Our political leadership is required to shun petty political differences and work to form a National Government to resolve these agitating issues within the fore walls of Pakistan without foreign interference, President Zardari, is being misled and advised to administratively manage the issue of lawyers' long march is yet another blunder for his government. The government must understand that the political problems are never settled in the courts or via stringent administrative measures.