A Different Ball Game

The Dawn, Pakistan

March 12, 2006

By Syed Shahid Husain

The Bush visit has once again confirmed, if confirmation was ever required, that while Pakistan may well be strategically located, it does not translate into any lack of options for the superpower

(The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined non-conformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood)

— Martin Luther King

Whether George W. Bush’s visit to Pakistan was a success or failure depends on whose side you are on. If you are on President Musharraf’s side, you would put a spin on the grand success of Bush’s visit simply because he found time to call on him.

According to an ARD leader: “The US president signed agreements with India and made a stopover in Pakistan, as he did in Kabul. Bush spent more time with Pakistani children playing cricket (which he did not like) and meeting representatives of the NGOs, showing his country was no more interested in General Musharraf.” If you were to look at the impact of the visit back home in Washington, the part of Pakistan’s visit won’t merit even a blip on their radar screen.

In preparation for Bush’s visit to Pakistan panic buttons had been pressed. The visit was heralded with aerial action on Miramshah in North Waziristan. Within three days the score was: 100 killed. Mayhem from heavens doesn’t remain confined to militants. Innocent men, women and children are the more likely victims. Leaders were arrested, which included Imran Khan and Qazi Husain Ahmad. Islamabad was closed to outside world and all links — road, rail, air and even sea links (nearest being Karachi) — were cut off.

The agreement between the two countries is devoid of any substance. Musharraf focused on strategic cooperation, Kashmir, Pakistan’s quest for civilian nuclear technology and market access. The visitor’s agenda was entirely different and his focus was on terrorism, nuclear non-proliferation and democracy. They were obviously not in sync. George Bush, therefore, thanked the host for agreeing to join the Container Security Initiative. As far as Kashmir is concerned, he promised to encourage the parties concerned to come together. Any concession to the general would have been counterproductive from the point of view of lovers of democracy. Bush tried to balance his support for his great ally who took the correct decision to side with the Americans rather than be on the receiving end of missiles, and smart ones at that, with some noises in favour of democracy, perhaps on the advice of the State Department. Not that Bush is very keen on democracy. He didn’t like a few more Ikhwanul Muslimeen getting elected to the Egyptian parliament and hates the outcome of Palestinian elections that has thrown Bush and his administration a challenge in the form of Hamas. All decisions must conform to the imperialist agenda.

South Asia, rather than the Indian subcontinent that we have known all along, includes India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The area has been designated as an outpost for regional control of the empire. Two of them are on one side and Pakistan appears to have been isolated. We are assigned ‘guard duty’ and the US president came to hold a law and order meeting, which bore close resemblance to the meetings that the deputy commissioner used to hold regularly with SP in attendance in our country. He would ask him how far he had succeeded in controlling crime and how many outlaws he had arrested since the last meeting, and whether the crime graph was up or down etc. “Part of my mission,” in the words of the visitor, “was to determine whether or not the president (Pakistani) is committed as he has been in the past to bringing these terrorists to justice, and he is.” He went on to say, “There is lot of work to be done n defeating Al Qaeda.” Does any of this sound laudatory?

The general’s pique became evident when he lashed out at Hamid Karzai. Reacting to the criticism on his handling of Afghanistan he went on to say that Karzai did not appreciate what Pakistan had done for him. “He knows how he was elected. If it is not for Pakistan, his election would not have gone smoothly.” Karzai ought to know we have far greater experience of holding elections and even referendums.

He chastized The Washington Post when it editorially demanded democratization: “The Post is not aware of our environment ... what is democracy, the Post does not know.” Going a little further, the ‘elected’ general went on to say: “I myself was elected by a two-third majority of parliament. I hope the Post knows that is democracy.” The WP unfortunately doesn’t.

More: http://www.dawn.com/weekly/dmag/dmag1.htm