REPORT FROM KARACHI, PAKISTAN:

US-Pakistan Alliance Fuels Flames of Extremists' Hatred

by Dr. Ali Ahmed Rind

Thanks to an altered post- September 11 global order, Pakistan faces three major security challenges at once.

On the eastern front, tensions are rising in the military stand-off between Pakistan and its nuclear neighbor, India, against whom Pakistan has fought three full-scale wars, resulting in the loss of one half of Pakistan's territory. The current struggle, now entering its sixth month, looks as if it will soon become a full-scale, and potentially nuclear, war.

India blames Pakistan for sending "terrorists" (read: Mujahideen, in Pakistan's official line on this issue) to the Indian part of Kashmir, and demands that Pakistan keep militants from crossing into India.

On the western front, a coalition of forces led by the US is treading on Pakistan's border areas in pursuit of Taliban/Al-Qaeda forces believed to be hiding in unruly tribal areas along the Pakistani-Afghan border.

Another version of the impending conflict in western Pakistan is that the coalition forces are combing the tribal areas in an attempt to rescue American servicemen allegedly being held captive by Al-Qaeda militants. Citing Taliban and intelligence sources, the Pakistani press reports that approximately 20 Americans were taken by Al-Qaeda in the Shahi Kot region during the early days of Operation Anaconda. As of yet, this claim has not been verified by the coalition side.

In a volatile region where even Pakistani government officials are unwelcome, heavily-armed ultra-conservative tribesmen have vowed to aim their guns at any American they see. Recent reports suggest that Musharraf, under pressure from his generals, has asked the US to either cancel the operation or at least slow it down.

"But how long [can] he ...resist the US pressure?" one politician asked in response to the generals' attempts to ease tensions in the area. "Americans are here to complete their agenda one way or another, and Musharraf knows... better than anyone else that his reluctance could [jeopardize] his job. [The] US is very capable of finding another general to complete the job. Therefore, the sooner the job is complete, the better."

"Musharraf's life is in imminent danger," asserted Altaf Hussain, the exiled leader of the urban-based political movement Muttahida Qaomi. He sees the desire of ISI, Pakistan's powerful intelligence agency, to stand up to India and the United States as a major obstacle in the general's mission to smooth over the emerging conflict.

Hussain continued, ""[Musharraf] knows... his limitations, and [the] unlimited power of intelligence agencies who don't want to see him ...complying with [the wishes] of [the] US and India".

Some powerful generals and a pro-Jihad faction within the ISI are believed to be unhappy with Musharraf's policy of backing Washington in what they call an agenda that favors India at the cost and peril of Pakistan's strategic interests in the region.

In addition to these external threats, Pakistan is facing an epidemic of domestic terrorism that is becoming more widespread and more lethal with each passing day. Though Pakistanis hoped that America's war against terrorism would be contained on the other side of the Durand Line—the working boundary between Pakistan and Afghanistan—the conflict has transversed the border, changing Pakistan from a front-line state to a nation directly involved.

There are many indications that domestic extremist groups have founded a terrorist cartel with the help of the godfather of international terrorism, Al-Qaeda, in order to bring down Pakistan's military leader, General Musharraf, in response to his decision to cooperate with the US in the war against terrorism.

Worse still, the majority of otherwise liberal Pakistanis are beginning to accept the extremist view that the US is responsible for Pakistan's political predicaments on all three fronts.

Moreover, the presence of US forces in Pakistan has increased anti-American sentiment in the country, making it more difficult—and dangerous—for Musharraf to confront militant Islamic groups without coming across as a US lackey.

Many blame the US for the unfriendly post-Taliban government in Kabul, Afghanistan, and the reversal of Pakistan's successful Kashmir policy. Under this policy of so-called "proxy war," Pakistan had been able to engage half a million Indian troops for over a decade without involving a single Pakistani regular soldier.

"Compounding the problem is Musharraf's relationship with the Americans," replied one intelligence source when invited to comment on the situation. He argues that Pakistan and the US do not share any common goals. "They first came into the neighborhood, then were granted bases in Pakistan, and are now conducting investigations with Pakistani officials into high-profile acts of terrorism and raiding seminaries in tribal areas," he said. "This is worrisome for many."

Maintaining that there is no similarity between Pakistan's objectives and those of the US, he recommends that his government sever ties with the United States. "Otherwise," he warns, "this phenomenon [will] only inspire jehadis to target the Pakistani government, thus creating a state of chaos in Pakistan."

The Pakistani media frequently report the presence of special American agents in major Pakistani airports. These agents check the records of all incoming and outgoing passengers, monitor telephone exchanges, and use Pakistani airfields for military logistic purposes, prohibiting locals from entering these areas. All of this comes with official Pakistani government approval.

Analysts are assigning great importance to the statement of US Embassy staffer Roralond Banett, who admitted during cross-examination in the Daniel Pearl case that the FBI was present in Islamabad.

"No more a sovereign nation—Pakistan." This is how the Pakistani newsmagazine Weekly Independent described the largely unwelcome US presence on Pakistani soil.

And, "Our New Neighbor—USA" is how India's premier newsmagazine Outlook titled its web discussion on US involvement in the region this week.

There are people here who wonder whether Islamabad has thought out the consequences of joining the war against terrorism. Issues of sovereignty, anti-Americanism and self-respect collectively fuel passions of the majority of people who inherit a deep mistrust of the Western world.

The intelligence agencies believe that the May 8 Karachi bombing that killed 14 people, including 11 French nationals, was carried out by the same group that kidnapped and executed Daniel Pearl in Karachi and attacked the church in Islamabad in March. Authorities are referring to this group as Pakistan's Al-Qaeda chapter. They also believe that these acts are directly linked to General Musharraf's decision to help the US in its war on Al-Qaeda.

After September 11, Musharraf, announcing his decision to go along with the US-led coalition against the Taliban/Al-Qaeda, had claimed to be buying US support on the Kashmir issue.

Extremist groups argue that despite Musharraf's claims in this regard, the US is more supportive towards India than it is toward Pakistan.

"The latest Indian moves towards a military encounter with Pakistan could not have happened without the tacit approval of the US," Dr. Shireen Mazari, chairperson of the government-funded Institute of Strategic Studies, says in her interview to an Indian magazine.

The dominant fear in the streets is that India could target Pakistan's nuclear installations through deadly air strikes, and that such an outcome would suit the US, which has been apprehensive about Pakistani nukes falling into the hands of jehadis.

The crack among Pakistan's leadership is obvious in the Daniel Pearl case, which, after the passage of five months, is yet to be fully investigated. No one knows what happened to the Wall Street Journal writer, and why. Little more than hearsay has been reported.

Fazal Karim, a member of banned terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, who led police to the recovery of Daniel Pearl's remains on May 17, has not yet been officially declared to be under police custody, as investigative agencies believe that an official confirmation about the discovery of Pearl's body will derail the ongoing trial against Sheikh Omar and 10 other persons. Police earlier identified Sheikh Umer as the kidnapper/murderer of Daniel Pearl. According to police sources, the picture of kidnapping and subsequent killing of Daniel Pearl that Fazal Karim presented is entirely different from the one investigative agencies have so far offered. The final submission of case papers in the court of law contains neither his name nor those of the other three people suspected of involvement, who are of Yemen nationality.

Police sources say that Fazal Karim also revealed that major Pakistani cities may soon witness more suicidal attacks against westerners and key government officials.

"Just as the US created Osama bin Laden and suffered the consequences, so it seems it's the turn of Pakistan now," one reporter commented in reference to a Jihadi group's boast of making Pakistan the new battleground against the West. "You can't nurture the monster of extremism and believe it won't consume you," he added, referring to Pakistan's past record of actively nurturing extremist groups.

"For their holy crusade against the Taliban, we gave them everything they asked for, every assistance in our power to render," writes Ayaz Amir, perhaps Pakistan's most influential columnist, in the equally influential newspaper Dawn. "Can the Americans not now leave us alone? Must they bring their Al-Qaeda into our midst?"

"There will be some who say Pakistan should withdraw its support from the US-led war on terror to avoid a backlash from religious extremism," writes Najam Setthi, editor of Pakistan's progressive newspaper Friday Times. "The government should complete the job it started against extremism. The US is neither here nor there and shouldn't be brought into the argument of what is naturally and inherently good for us in so many ways."

With every act of terrorism and war-mongering on the eastern borders of Pakistan, fewer and fewer voices of sanity are getting heard. The international community should be worried about this, just as the Pakistani people are worried.

Dr. Rind, a medical doctor, writes on geopolitical affairs for Pakistan's daily press and other media. He has been a regular Chronicle correspondent since last October.