Fear of friends

Woodward focuses on the threat Pakistan poses to the world but the the country presents a bigger risk to its people.

Investigative journalist Bob Woodward’s writings are always looked on with trepidation in Washington. Since the heady days of Watergate and the exposure of the scandal in 1972, Woodward has commented on the doings of key officials and brought what is hidden out into the light.

However, his latest book, Obama’s wars, follows a somewhat different trajectory. If there is a villain, it is the nation of Pakistan as a whole and the danger that it poses to the US as a result of the many complex currents that run through it. Woodward explores these currents, revealing the conspiracy theories that have led even the president to imply that the militant insurgency is US-backed and the involvement of rogue ISI elements in the 2008 attacks in Mumbai.

Much of what Woodward brings forward is fascinating. But even more than this, it is frightening — especially for those of us who live in the country. The narrative describes a country that seems to have lost direction and much of its grip over reality. While many of us have suspected this, having it come from a third party makes the temptation to hide behind a smokescreen of denial difficult.

Right now we face a change in relations with the US. While there had appeared to be an improvement over the last few months, new tensions have cropped up. The drone strikes, of which a heightened number were seen last month, and the recent attacks by manned aircraft are factors. But there also seems to be a layer that lies deeper, a hidden facet to the problem. It is this that Woodward explores. His hypothesis is that Pakistan, in some ways, prefers to live with the Taliban and the hatred for the US rather than to tackle these issues. This is a questionable theory. But there certainly seems to be a lack of clarity in many quarters within the country as to quite what we should be doing and how we should do it. The confusion is terrifying. If our political and military leadership is not quite clear on what needs to be done, we, as a nation face great dangers. Woodward has focused on the threat Pakistan poses to the world. In many ways the country presents an even bigger risk to its own people.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2010.