Confusion in the land of confusion
Knowing the bad guys is the easy part. What to do with them is the real challenge. And we are stumped.
The writer is Director News, Express News. He tweets @fahdhusain fahd.husain@tribune.com.pk
The missiles that slammed into Hakimullah Mehsud’s vehicle and incinerated him also seemed to carry a message for Nawaz Sharif: you may have a problem with drones, but we don’t. Whatcha gonna do about it, huh?
Huh indeed. At this stage, nobody seems to have a clue what will happen and what to do about it. The government is shell-shocked, realising perhaps, that the much-hyped negotiations with the TTP have been blasted away by the drone attack. There’s much humming and hawing going on, as well as thundering and bellowing by the likes of Imran Khan, Fazlur Rehman, et al. No surprise there. In fact, even in this moment of confusion in the land of confusion, some things can be expected.
Well for one, the TTP will not wither away just because another of its heads has been decapitated. Sure, there may be some factionalisation and fragmentation, but the TTP, in any case, is an umbrella organisation of nearly 40 groups and not a tightly knit unit like, for instance, Hamas. The TTP will soon name Hakimullah’s successor, who will then proceed to make new threats and possibly carry them out. Expect more death, more destruction and more confusion within the Pakistani leadership’s ranks. If this sounds familiar, that’s because it is.
Ditto for political rhetoric. The ceremonial Foreign Office condemnation (issued), PTI, JUI, JI, etc. fulmination against the US for deliberately sabotaging peace talks (in process), snarling of armchair warriors against Western conspirators (happening) and mocking of the government for its impotence (underway). These textbook reactions have become hallmarks of our discourse and harbingers of a phenomenon akin to a dog chasing its own tail. We had circular debt. Now we have circular confusion.
Who has brought this upon us? America? India? Afghanistan? Eskimos? Or perhaps, all of the above? Lost in this muddle is a very simple set of questions: Who’s the bad guy? And what are we going to do about him?
Let’s be clear. What are we wailing about? Hakimullah’s killing, or its timing? If it is the former, can we please remember that this gentleman ordered the slaughter of thousands of Pakistani men, women and children? Can we please remember that it was indeed this gentleman who orchestrated attacks on military installations, who is responsible for the murder and horrendous beheadings of scores of Pakistani soldiers, and who took pride in waging a bloody war against the state of Pakistan? In war, people kill and get killed. And he got killed. Those geniuses amongst us who have an irresistible urge to glorify him, I say pull your heads out of the sand and smell the stench of rotting corpses. Maybe this will clear your ideological sinus.
But it’s the timing of Hakimullah’s killing, you say. Just when the government was all set to talk to him; just when the peace process was beginning to inch forward; just when the give and take was about to commence; just when things were looking up, the Americans decided to blast it all away to smithereens. Sounds fishy? Deep conspiracy hatched by the Deep American State?
Sure, this is possible. Even probable. Perhaps, the Americans do not want the state of Pakistan to settle peace terms with the TTP. Perhaps, the Americans want the TTP to stay busy in fighting within Pakistan so they do not fight within Afghanistan. Perhaps, the Americans want to see a permanently unstable Pakistan because they fear a resurgent Pakistan at peace with itself could become a global powerhouse and challenge America’s hegemony. Perhaps, all this is true. But here’s the real question: what are we going to do about it?
We have held protest demonstrations and issued incendiary statements. We have sent our prime minister to sit in the Oval Office and ask the US president to end drone strikes. Nothing has worked? What now? Shut down Nato supply lines? Shoot down drones? Cut off diplomatic ties? Declare war on the United States? This is the answer we want, and this is the answer our leaders do not give us.
Knowing the bad guys is the easy part. What to do with them is the real challenge. And we are stumped. In the land of confusion, this is the real confusion.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 3rd, 2013.
Huh indeed. At this stage, nobody seems to have a clue what will happen and what to do about it. The government is shell-shocked, realising perhaps, that the much-hyped negotiations with the TTP have been blasted away by the drone attack. There’s much humming and hawing going on, as well as thundering and bellowing by the likes of Imran Khan, Fazlur Rehman, et al. No surprise there. In fact, even in this moment of confusion in the land of confusion, some things can be expected.
Well for one, the TTP will not wither away just because another of its heads has been decapitated. Sure, there may be some factionalisation and fragmentation, but the TTP, in any case, is an umbrella organisation of nearly 40 groups and not a tightly knit unit like, for instance, Hamas. The TTP will soon name Hakimullah’s successor, who will then proceed to make new threats and possibly carry them out. Expect more death, more destruction and more confusion within the Pakistani leadership’s ranks. If this sounds familiar, that’s because it is.
Ditto for political rhetoric. The ceremonial Foreign Office condemnation (issued), PTI, JUI, JI, etc. fulmination against the US for deliberately sabotaging peace talks (in process), snarling of armchair warriors against Western conspirators (happening) and mocking of the government for its impotence (underway). These textbook reactions have become hallmarks of our discourse and harbingers of a phenomenon akin to a dog chasing its own tail. We had circular debt. Now we have circular confusion.
Who has brought this upon us? America? India? Afghanistan? Eskimos? Or perhaps, all of the above? Lost in this muddle is a very simple set of questions: Who’s the bad guy? And what are we going to do about him?
Let’s be clear. What are we wailing about? Hakimullah’s killing, or its timing? If it is the former, can we please remember that this gentleman ordered the slaughter of thousands of Pakistani men, women and children? Can we please remember that it was indeed this gentleman who orchestrated attacks on military installations, who is responsible for the murder and horrendous beheadings of scores of Pakistani soldiers, and who took pride in waging a bloody war against the state of Pakistan? In war, people kill and get killed. And he got killed. Those geniuses amongst us who have an irresistible urge to glorify him, I say pull your heads out of the sand and smell the stench of rotting corpses. Maybe this will clear your ideological sinus.
But it’s the timing of Hakimullah’s killing, you say. Just when the government was all set to talk to him; just when the peace process was beginning to inch forward; just when the give and take was about to commence; just when things were looking up, the Americans decided to blast it all away to smithereens. Sounds fishy? Deep conspiracy hatched by the Deep American State?
Sure, this is possible. Even probable. Perhaps, the Americans do not want the state of Pakistan to settle peace terms with the TTP. Perhaps, the Americans want the TTP to stay busy in fighting within Pakistan so they do not fight within Afghanistan. Perhaps, the Americans want to see a permanently unstable Pakistan because they fear a resurgent Pakistan at peace with itself could become a global powerhouse and challenge America’s hegemony. Perhaps, all this is true. But here’s the real question: what are we going to do about it?
We have held protest demonstrations and issued incendiary statements. We have sent our prime minister to sit in the Oval Office and ask the US president to end drone strikes. Nothing has worked? What now? Shut down Nato supply lines? Shoot down drones? Cut off diplomatic ties? Declare war on the United States? This is the answer we want, and this is the answer our leaders do not give us.
Knowing the bad guys is the easy part. What to do with them is the real challenge. And we are stumped. In the land of confusion, this is the real confusion.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 3rd, 2013.