Has America gone mad?
What an idea: joint US-Pakistan military operations in the tribal belt. If the "war on terror" p
olicies pursued in Pakistan under the Bush administration have not already succeeded in making a complete mess of Pakistan, it seems that the action plan being evolved by the Obama administration will.
The idea that joint operations in the tribal areas can help eliminate militancy in the tribal belt represents such a flight of imagination that it is actually scary. It indicates that the US administration is simply clueless about the recruitment dynamics of Islamic militancy and also of the very basic characteristics of the Pashtoons. A sense of injustice is the primary mobilising tool for the Islamic groups, and "revenge" and "honour" are the two defining characteristics of the Pashtoon culture.
olicies pursued in Pakistan under the Bush administration have not already succeeded in making a complete mess of Pakistan, it seems that the action plan being evolved by the Obama administration will.The idea that joint operations in the tribal areas can help eliminate militancy in the tribal belt represents such a flight of imagination that it is actually scary. It indicates that the US administration is simply clueless about the recruitment dynamics of Islamic militancy and also of the very basic characteristics of the Pashtoons. A sense of injustice is the primary mobilising tool for the Islamic groups, and "revenge" and "honour" are the two defining characteristics of the Pashtoon culture.
In such a context, military operations led by the Pakistani army themselves are enough to mobilise more resistance, adding the US military to it is a recipe for making Pakistan another Afghanistan. The real problem with the US planners and Pakistanis who are in favour of military operations as a solution to the militancy is that they refuse to understand how Islamic militants groups operate. They rely on a heavy moral discourse to justify their acts. It is a vocabulary of justice, of honour. The Pakistanis who went to fight in Afghanistan during the Soviet war were not mainly madrasa students, they came from all walks of life, many came from Pakistani universities. They went to Afghanistan because they were convinced of the injustice against Afghan Muslims.
The biggest concern however is that increasingly it is not clear why US is concerned about Pakistan. Is it actually that is fears an attack from likes of Baitullah Mesud or is it that after Sept 11, the US administration has to show the US public that it is doing something to fight Islamic militancy and having casualties in Pakistan just becomes a way of proving to the US citizens the government's resolve to protect them. Who were the Pakistanis who were killed in these operations, and how these operations are destabilising the Pakistani nation are in then questions better not asked.
The biggest concern however is that increasingly it is not clear why US is concerned about Pakistan. Is it actually that is fears an attack from likes of Baitullah Mesud or is it that after Sept 11, the US administration has to show the US public that it is doing something to fight Islamic militancy and having casualties in Pakistan just becomes a way of proving to the US citizens the government's resolve to protect them. Who were the Pakistanis who were killed in these operations, and how these operations are destabilising the Pakistani nation are in then questions better not asked.
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