Pakistan plays down US panel’s criticism

Congressional committee had called for cutting aid to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Thursday played down a hearing of an American congressional panel which called for cutting off all kinds of assistance to Pakistan and force it to take action against the Afghan Taliban.

“The hearing you are referring to was informal and thinly attended,” said FO spokesperson Nafees Zakaria when asked about the hearing which was held this week. “Ted Poe, who was behind the idea of the hearing, himself, did not attend it. His negative bias against Pakistan is well known so nothing positive could be expected.”

Zakaria also questioned the credentials of former US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who said Pakistani leaders had gamed the American system for decades. “Mr Khalilzad’s credentials are also well known. How seriously his opinion is taken also does not require highlighting,” the spokesman added.

The meeting of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade and the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific debated whether Pakistan was a ‘friend or foe.’

Some of the participants of the hearing also demanded imposing economic sanctions on Pakistan in case the country does not eliminate the alleged terrorist safe heavens from its soil.

Despite the scathing criticism by the panel, Zakaria said, “From Pak-US common perspective, our two countries are long time partners and allies in their shared goal of defeating terrorism.”

“There had been close counter terrorism cooperation between the two countries.

In the October 2015 Joint Statement of President Obama and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, President Obama, affirmed Pakistan’s role as a key counterterrorism partner and recognised the sacrifices that Pakistani civilians, military and law enforcement personnel have made,” he said.

He said the Chairman Armed Services Committee, Senator John McCain, after a recent visit to Pakistan and seeing first-hand the results of military operations in North Waziristan, said “he was impressed by the progress on ground”. “Pakistan’s resolve to fight the menace of terrorism is not questionable. The extra-ordinary success of Operation Zarb-e-Azb is a testimony to Pakistan’s unwavering commitment to eliminate terrorism from Pakistan’s soil,” the spokesperson maintained.

Separately, Pakistan’s Embassy in Washington also issued a strong rejoinder to Ted Poe’s op-ed titled ‘Stop paying Pakistan’. In a statement issued by the press attaché of Pakistan Embassy in Washington Nadeem Hotiana said the op-ed leaves an impression that Pakistan had done nothing to fight terrorism.  “Pakistan has helped the United States capture key operatives involved in the tragic 9/11 episode. These included mastermind Muhammad Khalid Sheikh and alleged 9/11 organiser Ramzi Binalshibh. The list is not exhaustive and includes many other senior al Qaeda leaders,” Hotiana said.

During the last two years, he said, Pakistan had also cleared vast swathes of territory previously used by many militant networks, including the Haqqani Network.  “This operation has resulted in the killing of 3500 militants, 900 of which belonged to Lashkar-e-Islam, a group that threatened ground lines of communication for facilitating cargo for US troops. Nearly 500 soldiers of Pakistan’s army made the ultimate sacrifice in fighting these militants,” he further clarified. He said being the worst victim of terrorism and having lost thousands of innocent citizens and soldiers to this menace our own resolve to defeat this threat should not be doubted.

“Since the killing of Osama bin Laden, it has been established beyond doubt that he was hiding in Pakistan without information or any help from the state. No evidence to the contrary has ever surfaced and the US leadership involved in the specific operation at that time has clearly rejected any insinuation of Pakistan’s complicity. This includes the statement by Admiral William McRaven, who supervised the operation, that there was no evidence that Islamabad knew about the whereabouts of Bin Laden. The statement was published on the website of Department of Defence.”

Consistent with this position, the White House, as late as last year, debunked once again such media accusations that are sometime published by journalists seeking public spotlight. To publicly accuse Pakistan based on an allegation that has repeatedly proven false calls into question the reasons for using this erroneous story again and again.

In reality, documents collected from the Bin Laden compound tell another story. A brochure ‘Jihad in Pakistan’ reportedly written by bin Laden and released by the office of the Director National Intelligence in March this year lists the reasons why bin Laden considered Pakistan as an enemy and outlines al Qaeda’s elaborate strategy to destroy Pakistan. The brochure can be viewed at the DNI’s website and is yet another testimony to the fact that terrorism threatens Pakistan and the US as a common enemy.

In addition, the article also raises another unsubstantiated claim based on sensational media reporting that a CIA station chief was poisoned by Pakistan. This claim is as fictional as it is ridiculous. The matter has never been raised by the US government with Pakistan, Hotiana maintained.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2016.