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Shahzad’s Plot:NEW FACET TO US-PAK TIES, by Monish Tourangbam, 11 May 2010 Print E-mail

Round The World

New Delhi, 11 May 2010

Shahzad’s Plot

NEW FACET TO US-PAK TIES

By Monish Tourangbam

Research Scholar, School of International Studies (JNU)

 

Faisal Shahzad, the man charged with trying to blow up a home-made bomb in Times Square, New York City is a Pakistan-born naturalized US citizen. He has confessed to links with the Tehrik-e-Taliban or the Pakistani Taliban. He has admitted to receiving explosives training in Waziristan, a Taliban stronghold. US Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed that the suspect was working on the orders of the Pakistani Taliban and that they financed the attempted bombing. This failed terrorist attempt on US soil is the second in the past six months after the unsuccessful bombing of a US airliner on Christmas day.

Shahzad’s plot tracing its steps back to Pakistan has added a new dimension to the US-Pakistan ties on the ‘War on Terror’. American aid has flowed into the coffers of the Pakistani establishment but that has not seen any corresponding decrease of anti-Americanism in Pakistan. More than $3.5 billion in U.S. economic and military assistance is in the pipeline, and a nearly $8 billion International Monetary Fund agreement and a $3.5 billion World Bank financing package are pending. In fact, it is ironical that the increase of American aid into Pakistan seems to be inversely proportional to its popularity in the Pakistani mainland, with anti-American sentiments at an all-time high.

Since its independence, the South Asian country of Pakistan has depended on the American state for its defence purposes. This was in large part driven by its insecurity vis-à-vis its larger neighbour and rival India. Over the years, the defence and foreign policy of Pakistan has been shaped by its anti-India orientations and that accentuated its closeness to the United States in the wake of the Cold War. Because of its geostrategic location, Pakistan became a frontline Muslim state and a part of the American bloc during the Cold War, joining many security blocs under the tutelage of the United States.

Since, Pakistan always expected guaranteed assistance from Washington mainly in the defence sector in return for being a frontline state for the US once against Communism and now against international terrorism. The US and Pakistan has undergone what can be called a ‘love-hate relationship’ but the geostrategic importance of Pakistan in the scheme of anti-Communism or anti-terrorism has never been ignored and at most  times, America has placed misplaced-trust on the Pakistani establishments to the detriment of neighbouring India.

The American investment in Pakistan particularly in the defence sector since the advent of the Cold War has greatly strengthened the Pakistani military and intelligence leading to ambiguous and double-sided tactics of fighting terrorism. In the Pakistani scheme of things, certain groups (read the Kashmir-focused anti-India groups like the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba) are ignored, even nurtured as serving a strategic purpose in their traditional rivalry against India. A favourable narrative has been built around these groups and they have never been branded as enemies of the State.

But, evidence has time and again pointed to the fact that these groups are intricately linked to the terror campaigns of the Afghan Taliban and the Al Qaeda. The US understands this and the official line demands a coordinated action on all these groups having bases or sanctuaries in Pakistan. In fact, John Brennan, President Obama’s adviser on counter-terrorism, warned that the Pakistani authorities needed to maintain pressure on all the terrorist groups operating from its soil. But the question is whether the Americans will go the extra mile to ensure that the Pakistani establishment is sincere in its fight against the hydra-headed monster called terrorism.

The Times Square incident and the suspect turning out to be a Pakistani-American raises many questions as to how the turn of events may actually impact America’s ‘War on Terror’ and its ties with Pakistan in this pursuit. According to sources, Shahzad went to Waziristan with Mohammed Rehan, an activist of Jaish-e-Mohammed and was believed to have received his training in a camp run by Qari Hussain (In an audio tape message Hussain has claimed the responsibility for the attempted attack) , a master trainer of suicide bombers. 

The failed attempt at Times Square has underscored the active connivance of Pakistan-based Islamist groups in attacks against the US mainland and has thus brought forth differences of opinion regarding America’s anti-terror policy and its ties with Pakistan. Some officials seem to be losing their patience with the sluggish nature of the Pakistani establishment in dealing with the terror machinery operating from the region and its obsession with India as the number threat. They favour the US going more unilateral in this campaign with the increase of drone attacks against militant hideouts and more military presence in the region.

 On the other hand, others argue that it is premature to make conclusions about the kind of cooperation being given by the Pakistani establishment. They seemed to be confident and optimistic that the flow of American aid and well-channeled ties are effective. They believed that there would no major change of policy and that the present strategy is effective. Anti-Americanism is a concoction that has been brewing for some time now in the heartland of Pakistan, being distributed free of cost through local mosques, madrasas and other forms of vitriolic literature. And worse still, anti-Americanism is in fashion, not only in Pakistan but the intensity is high in this Muslim state. The US-Pakistan ties are an intriguing study at how a uni-dimensional relationship built around mere strategic objectives can have serious fall-outs.

They have had the most intense of official and diplomatic channeling since the advent of the Cold War which coincided with the independence of Pakistan. But, the relationship has been based more on a supply-demand perspective. Pakistan has depended on the US primarily for building its arsenal against rival India. On the other hand, the US decided to smoke together with a country like Pakistan specifically for the kind of geostrategic importance that it provided in the fight against Communism and then in the campaign against international terrorism.

Apart from this, there are hardly any similarities or concurrence between the two. America has functioned as a democracy since its inception while Pakistan, has been ruled by the military for almost half of its existence as an independent State. In contrast, India and the US despite being described as “estranged democracies” during the Cold War had enormous stream of people-to-people contacts and other basic similarities which could not be ignored.

The seeds of anti-Americanism have been sown in mainland Pakistan and it has even started sprouting in the forms of jihadists like Faizal Shahzad. Only drone attacks and military operations along the border with Afghanistan cannot solve this menace. Islamic extremists in Pakistan have woven the all-too familiar of West Vs Islam where only the destruction and devastation of countries such as the United States can bring about the Islamic Caliphate and this concoction is being fed to scores and scores of youngsters with disastrous consequences. Will the  Times Square episode lead to substantial change in the campaign against terrorism? --INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

 

 

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