Saudi Arabia approves cooperation agreement with US for the use of outer space for peaceful purposes    Quality of Life Program CEO highlights Saudi urban transformations at UN-Habitat conference in Cairo    AlHisn Big Time Studios unveiled to transform film and TV production in Riyadh    Saudi Aramco's Q3 net income falls 15.5% to SR103 billion amid a jump in annual cash flows    Almarai wins 'Best Corporate Sukuk' at Asset Triple A Islamic Finance Awards    Top climber falls to death after rare Himalayan feat    US voters flying home in time for election    Drones and snipers on standby to protect Arizona vote-counters    India's Modi condemns violence after Canada temple incident    Harris and Trump make final push in must-win Pennsylvania    Mitrovic's hat-trick leads Al Hilal to 3-0 victory over Esteghlal    Al Ahli extends perfect start with 5-1 victory over Al Shorta    Saudi crown prince, Tunisian president review bilateral relations in phone call    SFDA Chief visits premier biotechnology and medical firms in China    Al-Khereiji: Collective action in combating terrorism is a must for achieving stability and prosperity    Quincy Jones, titan of US music, dies aged 91    Neymar expected to join Al Hilal squad for AFC clash against Esteghlal, says coach Jesus    Al Qadsiah secure 2-0 victory over Al Ettifaq in first Eastern Derby since 2021    Hidden sugars in Asia's baby food spark concerns    HONOR unveils pre-order of the stunning HONOR MagicBook Art 14 Featuring an ultra-slim design, HONOR Eye Comfort Display and AI Cross-OS WorkStation    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Muted Eid celebrations for millions of Nigerian Muslims    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Crisis in US-Pak ties
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 16 - 08 - 2008

A sharp divergence in national aims is driving the United States and Pakistan apart. Relations between the two allies are severely strained and seem on the verge of a major crisis.
America's ‘war on terror' lies at the heart of the problem. The US is pressing Pakistan to flush out the Taleban from their tribal sanctuaries on the Pakistan-Afghan border – and is threatening to do the job itself, if Pakistan fails to act as vigorously as Washington would like. The US has already launched missiles into Pakistan against suspected jihadist targets, with scant respect for the international border or for Pakistani susceptibilities.
Both US Presidential contenders, Barack Obama and John McCain, have pledged to send more combat troops to Afghanistan. Obama has even threatened to take the war to Pakistan's tribal agencies, whether Islamabad likes it or not.
But the US ‘war on terror' has brought Pakistan nothing but trouble. It is deeply unpopular with the public and is inflaming anti-American sentiment; it has drawn the Pakistan army into costly skirmishes with armed Pashtun militants in the unruly tribal areas; and it has prompted the Taleban to strike back at Pakistan, as in the attack on Tuesday on a bus in Peshawar, which took the life of ten policemen.
Above all, the US war on the Taleban is at variance with Pakistan's key national priority which is to contain India -- and especially to keep Afghanistan, which Pakistan considers its ‘strategic depth', out of India's orbit.
So, in addition to the tension in US-Pakistan relations, Indo-Pakistan relations have also taken a turn for the worse in recent days, with lethal exchanges of fire in Kashmir – the most serious violation of a 5-year truce. At the same time, India and the US have accused Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, the ISI, of involvement in the suicide bombing last July 7 outside the Indian embassy in Kabul, which killed 58, including an Indian defense attaché.
Pakistan has angrily denied the charge, but few observers believe the Taleban – both the Afghan and Pakistan branches of the movement – could recruit hundreds of young fighters and train them at military camps in the tribal areas, not speak of logistics depots and Qur'anic schools, without ISI tolerance, if not complicity.
From their rear base in Pakistan, Taleban hit-and-run attacks continue to take their toll of US and NATO forces in the south and east of Afghanistan, in much the same way as the mujahedeen harassed Soviets forces in the 1980s, and eventually drove them out. Mullah Muhammad Omar, the elusive Taleban leader, is believed to have established his headquarters in Quetta, capital of Pakistan's Balochistan province, from where his lieutenants direct the fighting across the border. And Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani – who benefitted from millions of CIA dollars and ISI backing when he fought the Soviets – is now said to provide a haven for the militants in his base in North Waziristan, and to be a link between the ISI, the Afghan and Pakistani Taleban, and al-Qaeda.
General David McKieren, the NATO commander in Afghanistan, has admitted that the security situation is deteriorating, while the Taleban seem to be getting stronger, cowing the population into submission by beatings and beheadings and other ruthless behaviour. Some journalists in Afghanistan speak of a noose tightening around the capital, Kabul.
One predictable result is that Kabul is flooded with desperate refugees. Trapped between cruel Taleban exactions and even more lethal US air strikes, villagers are fleeing from the south in the hope of finding food and shelter in the capital.
The US faces formidable dilemmas in Pakistan, which directly affect the difficult military operations in Afghanistan. Is the ISI under central government control, or is it in the hands of ultra-nationalist Pakistan officers who, in both Kashmir and Afghanistan, use Islamic militants against India?
Should the US continue its aid to the Pakistan military, or withhold it until the situation is clearer? Or, on the contrary, should the US triple its non-military aid to Pakistan to $1.5bn a year – as some US politicians recommend -- in the hope of stabilizing the country and winning ‘hearts and minds'? Should the US take the risk of extending the war by intervening militarily in the tribal areas?
In a secret – but since much publicized – visit to Islamabad on 12 July, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Stephen Kappes, deputy director of the CIA, held crisis talks with top Pakistani military and civilian leaders. They conferred with President Musharraf, Prime Minister Yussaf Raza Gilani, the new army commander General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and the ISI director Lt-General Nadeem Taj.
According to press reports, Mullen and Kappes pressed the Pakistanis to sever ISI ties with the Taleban militants and to give the CIA freedom to operate in the tribal agencies of the North-West Frontier Province. It is unlikely that any Pakistani government – even a weak one – could accede to either demand.
Meanwhile, President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, America's main ally in the country, is threatened with impeachment by his political enemies. If proceedings against him go ahead, they could plunge the already fragile country into political chaos.
In 1999, Musharraf overthrew the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup and ruled for the next nine years. Sharif was sentenced to life imprisonment, but was then expelled in 2000, when he took refuge in Saudi Arabia. Sharif's party, the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N), is now in a shaky coalition with the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) headed by Asif Ali Zardari, husband of the late Benazir Bhutto. Zardari spent eight years in prison on corruption charges.
Both Sharif and Zardari now want to punish Musharraf for what he did to them, and drive him from office. He is accused of rigging last October's presidential elections, of sacking some 60 judges last November and of generally mismanaging the economy.
But impeachment of a president – which has never happened in Pakistan – would require a vote by two-thirds of the combined members of the Senate and the National Assembly – 295 votes out of a total of 440. So far the PPP and the PML-N can only muster 230 members – leaving a shortfall of 65 votes.
Musharraf seems determined to fight back. Will the military back him? Might it intervene and impose martial law as it has done so often before in Pakistani politics? And what would Musharraf's downfall mean for America's ‘War on terror'?
The conflict in the Caucasus has temporarily overshadowed the crisis in Pakistan and the war in Afghanistan. But some tough decisions will need to be taken if the US and its allies are to extricate themselves with honour from that deeply xenophobic Muslim country without further loss of treasure and men. __


Clic here to read the story from its source.