NATO’s PAKISTAN LIFELINE

STRATFOR"S analysis of NATO logistics through Pakistan correctly states that the routes through Pakistan are the shortest. It fails to mention the excellent port facilities and the superb network of roads that exist in Pakistan. It is also a fact that that the routes through both the northern and southern corridors are safe for most of the over 1200 km distance. There have been sporadic attacks on cargo terminals close to the Afghan border and danger if any is in the last 200kms. The losses so far need to be weighed against the enormous tonnages that have moved safely.

The US has explored alternatives to the routes through Pakistan. If Pakistan had any views it has not voiced them nor did Pakistan say anything about the earlier US decision to employ local contractors for security. According to STRATFOR the US has had problematical negotiations with Russia. Russia links any such concession with the overall US policy in the region that Russia considers its sphere of influence. The US faces similar problems with Central Asian States. It is only Pakistan that has given the US full logistic support---a fact that has seldom been appreciated. Pakistan has also not changed its policy in the face of all the pressure and coercion that the US uses in pursuit of its interests in almost complete disregard of Pakistan's genuine security concerns.

Rising above the pathetic and selfishly motivated analyses of the threat to the cohesion of Pakistan's military and intelligence apparatus the US needs to make its own independent determination. The Pakistan military is cohesive. It has never tolerated sub-cultures within its ranks. It has never been, nor is and nor ever will be a pushover against any threat to Pakistan. The same goes for Pakistan's intelligence apparatus. India and Afghanistan's present government would like to see these Pakistani institutions weakened and denied resources that would enhance their capabilities. This attitude flies in the face of their assertions that they want to see a stable and viable Pakistan.

Before criticizing Pakistan's military and its intelligence agency the US should note that these are their best allies. These are the institutions that have delivered in the past and have the potential to keep Pakistan cohesive and safe. Their capacity has to be built up so that they can confront and defeat the threat created by past and present US policies. India's refusal to resolve the core issue of Kashmir is the other major cause of destabilization in the region and the resurgence of terrorism. What stops India from agreeing to a demilitarization of the Siachen and Kashmir areas and resuming dialogue with Pakistan? The answer is that it is their covert activities against Pakistan and their narrow political interests. An Indian writer Vir Singhvi needs to be read because he exposes the real face of India and its threat to Pakistan. Fortunately what India sees as liabilities for Pakistan are seen as assets by all Pakistanis except those who make a living out of running down their own country. When such people are quoted Pakistanis yawn and move on.