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Pakistan in Dilemma |
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There is no word yet on what Pakistan's response in concrete terms will be to America's request for help in the fight against terrorism. A set of requests from Washington has been finally received by Islamabad, and the corps commanders spent the whole day on Friday to pass on their recommendations to the government. Now it is the cabinet and the National Security Council that will jointly study the top brass's recommendations and formulate Pakistan's response. The American demands have not been made public. But press reports speak of at least four major US requests: one, sharing information on Osama bin Laden; two, sealing off the border with Afghanistan; three, cutting off fuel supplies to Afghanistan; and, four, allowing the use of air space. As for other demands, Washington and Islamabad would do well to make them clearly known to avoid unnecessary speculation. |
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WTC attack Aftermath The bombing of the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, and the subsequent US resolve to retaliate have put Pakistan sharply into focus. In a hurry to act it may be, the US nevertheless is taking time to mobilize support and prepare for striking at the objects of its mad fury which are as good as known by but which have not been officially specified yet. It is already in the process of mobilizing a world coalition against terrorism and has already won NATO's support by invoking the treaty's article 5 which stipulates that any attack on any member will be regarded as offence against the alliance itself. Other states, including the permanent members of the Security Council, have pledged unequivocal support to the US. On its part, Pakistan has already offered its full support and cooperation to the US in the fight against terrorism. However, what specific form Pakistan's help will take is not clear yet. Without doubt, Pakistan is caught between the devil and the deep sea. On the one hand is the US and its determination to get at the elements and organisations behind last Tuesday's terrorist attacks. On the other are those sections of the domestic opinion which have a soft corner for the Taliban and do not consider them the devils that some of their actions make them out to be. The situation at hand involves for Pakistan the predicament of tight-rope walking between the two. Denying cooperation to the US would mean going against the Security Council resolution, against the world public opinion and against the government's own public stand on terrorism, which it has branded an "evil." On the other hand a carte blanche to the US entails the risk of a domestic backlash which the military regime may not be in a position to face up too easily at this critical hour. Clearly, some of the American demands are easy to fulfil. For instance, sharing intelligence on Osama is something that Islamabad should not find difficult to do. However, cutting off oil supplies and providing logistic support are a different matter. In matters of logistic support, it is not clear what precise form the Americans have in mind. The use of air space is an enormously ticklish issue. However, the last time the US decided to carry out a missile strike against Osama bin Laden's hideouts in Afghanistan in August 1998, it just went ahead and did it without seeking Pakistan's permission for the use of its air space whose violation was very much involved. With American aircraft carriers and other men of war in the Arabian Sea waiting for the word 'go' to unleash their lethal load, they may act any time, any day without waiting for the formality of our assent. It is not yet known whether the Americans want to use Pakistani air bases and facilities for stationing ground troops. These are matters that would need careful examination. Tajikistan, one of Afghanistan's neighbours, and Russia have already refused to let NATO troops in. Whether Pakistan can extend these facilities will depend largely on how convincing the American case for these are in the context of the plan of action they have in mind and how effectively Islamabad can secure public support on this score. In all this, the need clearly is for Washington to take Pakistan into confidence about the precise nature and extent of the military operation they are contemplating and also show a proper understanding of the constraints and limitations impinging on Pakistan's efforts to provide support and cooperation in that context. | ||||
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Filed on September 15th 2001. |
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