A nation that lies

Rather than playing to the galley, Pakistani authorities must stop lying to the world and their people.

On December 13, a congressional panel agreed that $700m in military aid to Pakistan would be frozen until it offers to help in the fight against improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that cause the deaths of troops in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They have justified the bill (yet to be passed), by alleging that material used to make IEDs originates from fertiliser factories inside Pakistan, but the country’s recent moves to block Nato supply routes and order the US out of Shamsi airbase may have amplified the pressure to cut aid. However, the potential cut of $700 million, as being reported by the press, will not be a significant one by any means. Will this reduction convey a stern enough message to Pakistani authorities? For all the wrong that Pakistan has been accused of doing, is this meagre cut all the retribution we are going to face?

America’s concerns are not unfounded; if my tax money was going to a country that increasingly seems to be playing a double game in fighting militancy, I would do more than just push to cut down on the millions of dollars I give it every year. The world watched as Osama bin Laden was found and killed in his Abbottabad home near a military academy; it watched as the Pakistan intelligence and military were silent in the aftermath of the raid, how no heads rolled and neither the intelligence nor the army chief stepped down when an event dubbed as an intelligence failure of gargantuan proportions occurred. Since then, Pakistan has been accused of lying, of fighting a proxy war in Afghanistan and of giving protection to a terrorist network that America and Afghanistan are trying hard to eradicate from the region. Has the US not had enough? Or do they need us so badly that, despite all the duplicity and insincerity, they will support and mollycoddle us for the sake of intelligence sharing and a route to Afghanistan?

In the recent downward spiral of Pakistan-US ties in the wake of the Nato attack on November 26, it seems Pakistan is in a better bargaining position than its superpower ally. Reports of drone attacks being halted are also surfacing and the military public relations’ website is now brandishing pictures of a Shamsi airbase purged of American boots; the same military that didn’t clarify the mystery of whether the base was ever used for drone attacks nor confirmed that Americans were, indeed, present at the base after a hue and cry was raised in the aftermath of the Raymond Davis fiasco. Are we to now believe that the strong stance taken by Pakistan authorities, with its boycotts and reviews of the rules of engagement, is non-negotiable?

The truth is that, despite all the bad behaviour, we are a nuclear state and the US cannot win in Afghanistan without our help. Instead of using this as leverage, Pakistani authorities must clearly define our stance and role in the war on terror. They must stop lying to the world and to their own people and show a stronger commitment to the war, rather than playing to the galley. Through diplomatic channels and with sincerity, the fight against terrorism can make progress. Punishing and humiliating an ally is not the solution.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2011.