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Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Pakistan no obedient ally:Eric Margolis

Pakistan no obedient ally

WikiLeaks data shows how volatile nation is forced to act against own self interests
Release of 92,000 U.S. military field reports from Afghanistan by WikiLeaks has revealed the war’s ugly underbelly and embarrassed the hell out of Washington and its NATO allies, including Canada.
They have fired back, claiming release of these old reports from 2004-2009, endangers “our boys.”
Nonsense. The only thing the truth endangers are the politicians who have hung their hats on the Afghan War and some paid informers.
The facts are shocking: Wide-scale killing of civilians by U.S. and NATO forces; torture of prisoners handed over to the Communist-dominated Afghan secret police; death squads; endemic corruption and theft; double-dealing and demoralization of western occupation forces facing ever fiercer Taliban resistance.
I’ve been reporting on the lies and propaganda about the Afghan war since 2001.
The most interesting part of Wikigate was Pakistan’s supposedly duplicitous behaviour in aiding the U.S.-led war while maintaining secret links with the Taliban and its allies.
The U.S. government and media have been blasting Pakistan while downplaying the atrocities — and, charges WikiLeaks, “war crimes” — committed by western forces.
Here’s the bottom line on Pakistan’s “duplicity.”
After 9/11, the U.S. threatened to “bomb Pakistan back to the Stone Age” unless it turned against the Taliban, a religious, anti-Communist movement, and opened Pakistan to U.S. military forces and intelligence operations.
This was told to me by a former head of ISI, Pakistan’s intelligence service whose directors I have known since 1985.
Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf says his nation was forced to reluctantly give in to intense U.S. pressure and abandon the Taliban, which served as Pakistan’s proxy army in Afghanistan battling the still active Afghan Communist Party — Tajik Northern Alliance, also backed by Russia and Iran. Intensifying efforts by India to extend its influence into Afghanistan deeply worry Pakistan.
Pakistan was forced by the U.S. to act against its own vital strategic interests. Southern Afghanistan has long been Pakistan’s sphere of influence.
This column revealed that in 2007, Pakistan and India concluded that the U.S. and its dragooned allies would be defeated and driven from Afghanistan. Both old foes began implementing a proxy war to control strategic Afghanistan.
Pakistan was compelled to follow a dual-track policy: Accepting semi-occupation by the U.S. and $1 billion annually from Washington and paying lip service to the U.S.-led war, while keeping open links to Taliban and tribal militants.
This was basic common sense. No one should have been surprised — particularly not Washington which has a long record of abandoning faithful allies.
Washington and U.S. media are heaping blame for the growing fiasco in Afghanistan on Gen. Hamid Gul, former director general of the ISI intelligence agency.
Gul led the anti-Soviet struggle in Afghanistan in the 1980s and was one of America’s most formidable allies.
I knew Gul well. He is not anti-American. He is pro-Pakistan, a Pakistani patriot at a time when so many Pakistani politicians and generals have been bought like bags of Basmati rice.
Many of the false charges against Gul came from the Communist-led Afghan secret police.
What Washington really wants is a totally obedient, obsequious Pakistan, not a real ally.
But the interests of the two nations must at times diverge
Trying to make Pakistan into a satellite state will result in that vastly important, nuclear-armed nation one day exploding with anti-American hatred, as was the case in Iran in 1979.
The U.S.-led war in Afghanistan is putting the two nations on a collision course.
Here in Washington, the U.S. Congress just ignored the WikiLeaks scandal and voted for yet more billions to fuel the Afghanistan War.
Politicians are petrified to oppose this nine-year war, lest they be accused of being anti-patriotic, the kiss of death in hyper-patriotic America — where flag-wavers root for foreign wars so long as their kids don’t have to serve and they don’t have to pay taxes to finance them.

(Eric Margolis is an American-born journalist and writer. For 27 years, ending in 2010, he was a contributing editor to the Toronto Sun chain of newspapers, writing mainly about the Middle East, South Asia and Islam. He contributes to the Huffington Post and appears frequently on Canadian television broadcasts, as well as on CNN).



NOTE:This is a cross post from Toronto Sun.

19 comments:

  1. wow! every point in the article hit the mark!!

    "Pakistan was compelled to follow a dual-track policy: Accepting semi-occupation by the U.S. and $1 billion annually from Washington"

    which is obviously nothing compared to what we have lost. (and almost half i think out of this 1 billion was to be spent on americans themselves)


    "I knew Gul well. He is not anti-American. He is pro-Pakistan, a Pakistani patriot at a time when so many Pakistani politicians and generals have been bought like bags of Basmati rice"

    couldn't help but smile at this.

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  2. "Trying to make Pakistan into a satellite state will result in that vastly important, nuclear-armed nation one day exploding"

    yeah.........and robert gates's latest statements won't help in this regard either. (hinting of allowing US forces INSIDE pakistan to go against haqqani)

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  3. Eric have not gone into details about the original Afghan Jihad which is the root cause of the current turmoil in Afghanistan and Pakistan.I have never read any western analyst or a media person ever mentioning about the benifits reapead by USA and Western countries as a result of disintegration of the Soviet Union( making USA as the sole super power) which was facilitated by Pakistan and hence the western countries/USA are therefore directly responsible for the current situation here in Pakistan/Afghanistan and should take the blame

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  4. "Politicians are petrified to oppose this nine-year war, lest they be accused of being anti-patriotic, the kiss of death in hyper-patriotic America — where flag-wavers root for foreign wars so long as their kids don’t have to serve and they don’t have to pay taxes to finance them."


    this reminded me of Michael Moore's 9/11 docu, where he was standing outside asking Congressmen to get them to enlist their children in US armed forces...........with the result???? not one accepted the brochures.

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  5. i read that there was to be a video release alongwith certain other documents at wikileaks that asange has not published yet??? is it true?? (the video is supposedly lethal to the US and they are trying their best to stop further documents to be leaked)

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  6. Without commenting on Gen Gul, Pakistan is in from a frame up. If you read at this article then read Gates comment in The News today:

    The US has said that it is undertaking a major build-up of forces in eastern Afghanistan — a stronghold of Haqqani faction — for a decisive push against terrorists’ safe havens close to the borders of Pakistan.

    Disclosing this, the US Secretary of Defence, Robert Gates, hinted that the operation could be one “on both sides of the border”.

    I thought Pakistan was an ally?
    But may we know WHAT OUR GOVT PLANS TO DO ONCE THE PRESIDENT IS BACK FROM HIS UK JAUNT?

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  7. Anyone knows if Pak Govt has issued a response to Gates statement?
    Good analysis in general by Eric.

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  8. "...so many Pakistani politicians and generals have been bought like bags of Basmati rice." That must be the raeson why the famous brand name of high quality Pakistan Basmati Rice is known as "Col Basmati Chawal' i dont know if there is any brand name of Genl basmati or President basmati also. Though its a bitter fact but still a slap on the face of our souverignity that we could not uphold and mainatin through men the than like Genl Pervez Mushurruf and now the one like Asif Ali Zardari.. God knows how many more such slurs and scorns we have to bear with?

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  9. @Sameeh, no response so far that i have seen anywhere. but then, there are "more important" matters at hand than a firm response to statements like these. :-)

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  10. the previous one was meant for Laila. sorry about the name mixup.

    @Sameeh, a definition i found for an ally : "a person who associates or cooperates with another; supporter."

    so i guess the "co-operation" requires us to let them in, we'll have to let them in. drones are already carrying their mission here, aren't they.

    unless, the government wakes up, either itself, or by someone else (the powers that be).and refuses to "co-operate" any farther. especially when our armed forces have denied the US forces op[erations inside pakistan on previous occasions.

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  11. I am not a PPP loyalist per se however, I have seen Zardari to be street smart & shrewd. His going to UK at this point will be good for Pakistan Instead of getting embroiled in the official claptrap, he will be in the position to express our views better.
    Gates is another matter.
    If Eric is reading this,can he tell me how he relates the "leak" with statement by Robert Gates,posted here by...Sameeh.

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  12. Impressive write up Margolis.Bull's Eye. No wonder it got you fired from QMI.
    Cheers for the pen that writes the truth.

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  13. The point is that no hope exist. Of defeating Talibans and jehad element because cut and run policy of US will create a vacuum in which jehad elements will take over with expansanioist fantasies of conquering India after talibanization of Pakistan. The destabilized Pakistan poses a major rusk to worlrd peace.

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  14. expansionist fantasies of conquering India???

    taliban government was in power from 1996 to 2001, and still they did not "talibanize" pakistan OR went to turn "fantasy" to reality by conquering India.

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  15. Well said Faisal.on the subject of expansionist fantasies,it is India which is on an expansionist fantasies Agenda,they have leased out Akula submarines from Russia, as well aircraft carriers,they have two major airfields in Tajikistan,in which are parked indian, su-30 with nukes, Indian Phalcon counter to AWACS built by Israel patrol our northern skies,india has a tripartite agreement for Defense with iran, and Iran has allowed india the naval use of chah bahr,as well her military bases in case of a war.so i think Dr. imran,it is india which wants to take over Afghanistan after the Nato forces depart.

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  16. mmmmmhmmmm, and the West wants to neutralize China by bringing India up against it, and making it stronger by whatever means necessary. Thus the terms like Af-Pak by the West, and the signings like the recent (with Mrs. Clinton at the back, appreciating hard work coming to fruition) between Afganistan and Pakistan.

    and still, India not ready to let go of the past that haunts it, of how Pakistan was allowed to establish inspite of their constant struggle against it. to them, Akhand Bharat is the only way, they can save their souls.

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  17. "The U.S.-led war in Afghanistan is putting the two nations on a collision course."

    I have a question for Mr. Margolis. Considering the wikileaks, david cameron's statement and then their counsel general Adam Thompson remaining firm that they won't apologize reagrds the PM's statements, then Gates's latest statement of hinting use of marines inside borders of Pakistan. Do you think that West including the US and UK, alongwith India are cornering Pakistan for some other agenda than a peaceful exit from Afganistan???

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  18. I share a mail here from Dr Nasim:
    Eric knows the area very well and has extensively written about it. I agree fully with his analysis.
    There are still people in the western media who speak the truth even if it hurts their own interests.

    Nasim Hassan

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  19. A crisp and to the point article.

    America has been in close touch with Pakistani nation for decades now. American approach to international diplomatic relationship building has always been based on detailed study / analysis by their highly qualified experts, whose findings and conclusions must be mostly accurate which is proven by the fact that America today is the sole super power in the world.

    We in Pakistan have been craving since decades again that we would like to see Americans as our 'friends, not masters'. But it is so unfortunate that we find America so consistent in her treatment of us as not more than an obedient ally.

    It is so disappointing that India who was the staunchest ally of Russia against America only yesterday, is today America's greatest chum over the dead body of Pak-America alliances of the recent past.

    Perhaps Americans feel that we are an 'easy' nation to be used and thrown away at their whims. Unfortunately, conduct of our various govts. in the past viz-a-viz honoring American demands at the cost of own national sentiments and collective wisdom, seems to have encouraged that nation or some of their operatives to draw conclusions like that American senator who commented that 'these Pakis can sell their mothers for a few dollars'.

    I feel slowly and gradually we are being driven to the point and the time is fast approaching for us to tell our 'friends' that enough is enough and if they have decided to abandon us at the hands of their new-found friends, that is going to be the last time we are going to trust America as a friend........!

    As far as India in Afghanistan (where America is planning to appoint her as the guardian) is concerned, no body should have any misgivings about it that we can deal with her at our own, in a most befitting manner. A grave marked "I N D I A" will be a nice addition to the graveyard of history in Afghanistan...........!!!

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