© 2007-2009. All rights reserved. AhmedQuraishi.com & PakNationalists
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium
without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
Corrupt Feudal Politicians Push Pakistan To The Edge
The Kerry-Lugar-Berman Big Bribe will go into
the usual pockets. In return, the 'democratic' Pakistani government is
permitting Washington to secretly create a small mercenary army inside
Pakistan. Arrogant US diplomats and complicit politicians in government
are pushing the Pakistani military to the point of revolt.
By Eric S. Margolis
Thursday, 22 October 2009.
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Official Washington watches in mounting alarm and
confusion as Pakistan spins out of control.
The US-led war in Afghanistan has now poured over into Pakistan, bringing that
nation of 167 million close to civil war.
Bombings and shootings are rocking Pakistan’s northwest regions,
including a brazen attack on army HQ in Rawalpindi and repeated bombings of
Lahore and Peshawar. Pakistan’s army has launched a major offensive
against rebellious Pashtun tribes in South Waziristan.
Meanwhile, the weak, deeply unpopular government of Asif Zardari that was
engineered into power by the US faces an increasingly rancorous confrontation
with its own military. Like the proverbial bull in the china shop, the Obama
administration and US Congress chose this explosive time to try to impose yet
another layer of American control over Pakistan – just as Nobel peace prize
winner Barack Obama appears likely to send thousands more US troops to
Afghanistan.
Tragically, US policy in the Muslim world continues to be driven by imperial
arrogance, profound ignorance, and special interest groups. The current
Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill approved by Congress and signed by Obama is ham-fisted
dollar diplomacy at its worst.
Pakistan, bankrupted by corruption and feudal landlords, is being offered US$7.5 billion over five years. Washington claims there are no strings attached. Except, of course, that the US wants to build a mammoth new embassy for 1,000 personnel in Islamabad, the second largest after its giant fortress-embassy in Baghdad. New diplomatic personnel are needed, claims Washington, to monitor the US$7.5 billion in aid. So a small army of US mercenaries is being brought in to protect US "interests". New US military bases will open. Most of the billions in new aid will go right into the pockets of the pro-western ruling establishment, about 1% of the population. Washington has been also demanding veto power over promotions in Pakistan’s armed forces and intelligence agency, ISI. This crude attempt to take control of Pakistan’s proud, 617,000-man military and intelligence service has enraged its armed forces. It’s all part of Washington’s "Afpak" strategy to clamp tighter control over restive Pakistan and make use its armed forces and intelligence agents in Afghanistan. The other key US objective is seizing control of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, the cornerstone of its national defence against much more powerful India. Welcome, Pakistan, to the American Raj. However, 90% of Pakistanis oppose the US-led war in Afghanistan, and see Taliban and its allies as national resistance to western occupation. Alarmingly, violent attacks on Pakistan’s government are coming not only from once autonomous Pashtun tribes (wrongly called "Taliban") in Northwest Frontier Province, but, increasingly, in the biggest province, Punjab. Recently, the US Ambassador in Islamabad, in a fit of imperial arrogance, actually called for air attacks on Pashtun leaders in Quetta, capital of Pakistan’s restive Baluchistan province. Washington does not even bother to ask the Islamabad government’s permission to launch air attacks inside Pakistan, only informing it afterwards.
The Kerry-Lugar-Berman Big Bribe comes as many
irate Pakistanis accuse President Asif Ali Zardari’s government of being
American hirelings. Zardari, widower of Benazir Bhutto, has been dogged for
decades by corruption charges. Washington seems unaware of the fury its crude,
counter-productive policies have whipped up in Pakistan. The Obama
administration listens to Washington-based pro-Israel neo-conservatives,
military hawks, and "experts" who tell it what it wants to hear, not
the facts. Pakistan’s military, the nation’s premier institution,
is being pushed to the point of revolt. Against the backdrop of bombings and
shootings come rumours the heads of Pakistan’s armed forces and
intelligence may be replaced. Pakistanis are calling for the removal of the
Zardari regime’s strongman, Interior Minister Rehman Malik. The possibility
of a military coup against the Zardari regime grows. But Pakistan is dependent
on US money, and fears India. Can its generals afford to break with patron
Washington?
Eric S. Margolis is a contributing editor
to the Toronto Sun chain of newspapers, writing mainly about the Middle East
and South Asia. This column is originally titled, Pakistan joins the American
Raj.
Eric
S. Margolis is a contributing editor to the Toronto Sun chain of newspapers,
writing mainly about the Middle East and South Asia. This column is originally
titled, Pakistan joins the American Raj.
© 2007-2009. All rights reserved. AhmedQuraishi.com & PakNationalists
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium
without royalty provided this notice is preserved.
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