We live in our self-invented cocoons and conveniently throw blame for all our woes on the rest of the world.
LAHORE: To argue that “all of America’s and India’s pains” could be removed if the Pakistani military were brought under civilian control is ‘insidious’, as the air marshal has done, makes for poor deduction. In saner parts of the world, it is policy that dictates strategy and not other way round. However, on this blighted soil, military strategy dictates all national policies.
Even if the civilian government in Pakistan somehow gathered enough muscle, it would dare not lean towards Washington for reasons that are all too well-known. As for Haqqani being the “blue-eyed boy” of the Americans, let’s not forget that this is not the first time the latter have provided concrete evidence of our involvement. In 2006, the Bush administration intercepted communications between the ISI and Haqqani operatives involved in the attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul. Then, Washington chose to stay quiet because it needed the military’s support in fighting al Qaeda.
The moot point is this: should we oppose a possible Indian-friendly government in Kabul even if it means taking on the US? How many more fronts can Pakistan concurrently face? We continue to cling to the past. Instead of making new friends to alleviate our sufferings, Pakistan is speedily inventing new enemies. We live in our self-invented cocoons and conveniently throw blame for all our woes on the rest of the world. No wonder, many in the outside world think that we are destined to become a footnote of history.
Muhammad Azam Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th, 2011.
