Turbulent Pakistan
Things are pretty turbulent in Pakistan at the moment. There are now several emerging power centers and each of them is using the tools at their disposal to jostle and nudge to get more political influence.
President Musharraf is still in negotiations, it seems, with Benazir Bhutto and her Pakistan People’s Party about some type of agreement that would include immunity for Bhutto from past charges coupled with the PPP’s support for another Musharraf Presidential term (as long as he hangs up the uniform).
Bhutto wants to wrap things up quickly and head back to ensure that her party can become the dominant elected force in Pakistani politics.
Former PM Nawaz Sharif is still likely to return to the country on the back of his Supreme Court victory, despite the Saudi government urging that he not renege on his immunity and exile deal with Musharraf. An unnamed Saudi government source is quoted by the BBC online as saying:
“Wisdom demands that Mr Nawaz Sharif commit himself to the promises he made – namely, not to return to Pakistan and to political activity,”
Simultaneously, the Musharrf government has been rounding up some activists from Sharif’s party presumably to blunt the effectiveness of his imminent return.
With all of this fluidity, what should the U.S. position be?
Well, first there should be support for the swift return to democracy and a clarification that the U.S. position is to work with the next elected government of Pakistan.
Second, we should see a comprehensive aid package pulled together for the next Pakistani government as part of a hearts and minds” strategy. The U.S. needs to be seen to be on the side of the Pakistani people and the best way to do that is to support democracy via word and deed.
No related posts.
In 2005, the 9/11 Commissioners published a final report on implementation of the Commission’s 41 recommendations. One of their conclusions was that the US had failed to effectively support Pakistan against extremism:
Recommendation: Support Pakistan against extremists
Grade C+
U.S. assistance to Pakistan has not moved sufficiently beyond security assistance to include significant funding for education efforts. Musharraf has made efforts to take on the threat from extremism, but has not shut down extremist-linked madrassas or terrorist camps. Taliban forces still pass freely across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and operate in Pakistani tribal areas.
Clearly, Musharraf has had a lot more trouble shutting down madrassas than the Commissioners initially imagined. Yet the thrust of the recommendation remains clearly right: we must help Pakistan, a powerful nuclear-armed player in a volatile region, resist the inroads of the Islamism that was arguably one undercurrent of its founding sixty years ago. So, the question in my mind is whether Raj’s “comprehensive aid package” actually solves the problem (given luck and enough time), or whether we do, as Obama famously suggested, need to contemplate more proactive means of helping Pakistan resist Islamism.
Comment on September 5, 2007 @ 8:10 am