Here we go again

“Aside from the reference to drones — delivered in a tone so soft that reporters in the room strained to hear him — Mr Sharif also sounded conciliatory.” So reported The New York Times, following the famous Pakistan prime minister-US president meeting at the White House last month, commenting on Nawaz Sharif’s ‘muted’ drone protest.

So much for ‘forcefulness’ over an issue that has inflamed — and now even more so — the Islamic Republic’s public opinion, stirring up the not unfamiliar anti-American political and other ‘honour’ upholders of Pakistan’s wobbly sovereignty which in truth is somewhat non-existent, as is admitted by the more realistic minority. But then, how could Mr Sharif possibly have been forceful, knowing what he presumably knows about the various ‘arrangements’ arrived at between Pakistan and the US on the matter of drone strikes?

Hence, the prime ministerial sensible reluctance to have anything to do with the hysteria exhibited by his interior minister, playing to the gallery and becoming all hot and bothered under his perennial Beatle-styled headwear, Imran Khan, and the rest of the ‘honourable’ demagogue politicians and media folk who urge the government, and the nation at large, to call upon its mythical prowess, stand up to the US, look it in the eye and play tit for tat. They all quite forget that to look another in the eye one must be, approximately, of the same height.

The trend towards anti-Americanism is nothing new. It has been simmering for decades and on occasions has over-boiled. Our policymakers so often forget that it was in 1947, soon after Pakistan appeared on the map of the world, that the US was first approached for aid and succour — both cash and military hardware. They forget what the relationship was, as the new country built up its army and itself. The American embrace is old hat and over the years, quite naturally, has been subject to the loosening and tightening of strictures in accordance with US national interest.

And what is that interest? Well, from the time of its founding, it has been made quite clear to the world that permanence in relationships is not an option — in matters of foreign affairs, there are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies. National interest prevails. In its national interest, the US has, over the decades, poured billions into the country. Likewise, when in its national interest, we have been shed in the blink of an eyelid. And, when one is indebted to another, and demands are made by the other, resentment builds up, as does the feeling of being used. Hence, a massive chip on the shoulder.

Pakistan, over 66 years, has consistently fluffed up on what should be its national interest, particularly with reference to 1971 and onwards, and right now, confusion prevails following 9/11. Forever, its leaderships have been unable to either figure out or accept the global power equation. Someone at some time needs to sit down and fathom out why it is that Pakistan is considered a threat to the world, and then to at least attempt to do something about it.

In actual fact, it could be said, though it sounds callous as it discounts the unacceptable ‘collateral damage’ (that neat euphemism for killing those who should not be killed), that the drone strikes, etc. are helping and aiding Pakistan in its battle against the pervasive terrorism by eliminating state enemies, who for varied reasons the state itself shies away from.

To come to terms with the perfidy, duplicity and downright mendacity of both sides of the coin (though possibly Pakistan has the upper hand on this score), plus all the ties that bind and do not bind, all it takes is some reading. Recommended: No Exit from Pakistan, by Dan Markey; The Way of the Knife, by Pulitzer Prize winner Mark Mazzetti; and last but by no ways the least, Magnificent Delusions, by Husain Haqqani (controversial by all means, but an avid researcher and a balanced and most informative writer).

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23^rd, 2013.

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