Misplaced US notions about Pakistan

IT is quite annoying and humiliating that statements are frequently issued from the United States about the fragility of the situation in Pakistan and that the country could turn into a failed State if the militancy was not brought under control. The so-called think tanks and stray newspapers here and there have been given the task to depict a bleak picture about the future of the country and these tools of the vested groups prefer to cast aspersions on the viability of Pakistan as part of the campaign to create uncertainty in the minds of the people here so as to dictate their terms.




Latest to join in the chorus of anti-Pakistan campaign are former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Burzynski who in a programme over a private Pakistani TV channel said that if the US failed over any important issue in Pakistan and subsequently the country is dismembered, then Washington will have to either hand over it to terrorists or fight against them with or without world's help. They were of the view that US may face defeat in Pakistan and Afghanistan which is a real threat. Kissinger however advocated that US should help India and Pakistan resolve their problems and wanted refixing of priorities that could be achieved within a certain time frame. On the other hand due to Islamabad's recent strong resistance to American pressure, Special envoy Holbrooke in an interview said that Washington would respect Pakistan's red lines yet insisted that elimination of terrorism and militancy from Pakistan is the top priority of the new US strategy. On its part, as a sovereign country, Pakistan has to keep the national interests upper most and then see how far it could go to assist others.

It is encouraging that the leadership has shown determination to resist arms twisting by the super power and that was a reflection of the national resolve that come what may, the country is capable to deal with any situation. Pakistan is a nuclear and missile power and its Armed Forces with full backing of 165 million people are in a position to deal with any eventuality. No one needs to worry about the survival of Pakistan and a few hundred so-called militants certainly cannot run over our Armed Forces and the masses. Therefore misplaced notions from the United States must come to an end. Policy makers in Washington need to stop dreaming and realize sooner the better that people of Pakistan have the capacity to get out of difficult situations as they did in the past and would not accept strings with meagre aid or through propaganda campaign questioning its very survival.