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Wednesday, 21 October 2009.?
V e Nation?
WWW.AHMEDQURAISHI.COM?
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan²V ere is a dangerous pattern connecting t e events appening
in and around Pakistan today. Unless we can see t is larger picture, we will be
overw elmed by t e fallout and our detractors like t e US will ave fulfilled t eir
agenda for t is nuclear capable country. ?
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V e roots of t is US agenda go back to Mus arraf¶s asty embrace of t e US ³war on
terror´. W at was not realised at t e time was t e psyc ological trauma t e US ad
undergone as a result of 9/11, w ic ad led to t e bolstering of t e already suspicion-
tinted view t e US ad of t e Muslim world. Of course, some pliant Muslim leaders were
reluctantly embraced as ³allies´, but always on a tig t leas , but by and large nationalist
Muslim leaders and t eir nations were somet ing t e Americans never felt comfortable
wit . If t ese nations were also militarily or economically strong, t e US felt even more
uncomfortable. In t is context, Ma at ir¶s Malaysia, Revolutionary Iran and nuclear
Pakistan certainly stood out as irritants in one way or anot er. So w en 9/11 appened,
even t oug it was Saudi citizens w o were responsible for t e actions, Pakistan was
broug t centre-stage and t e US saw t is as t e opportunity to cut t e country down to
size and finally gain control of its nuclear assets.?

V at Mus arraf proved excessively compliant from t e beginning came as a s ock even
to t e Bus Administration, but t ey realised is limitations in terms of compromises at
t e tactical level because of t e military - w ic often put a spanner in t e US agenda for
Pakistan. Hence t e constant critique of t e Pakistan military and its intelligence outfits
- especially once t e CIA fell out wit t e ISI two years ago over w om to target in
FAVA! ?

So w at is t is US agenda t at bodes ill for Pakistan? An article publis ed in t e US

Army Journal entitled ³Blood Borders´ captured t e broad outline a few years earlier.
V e main components t at can now be identified are: One, to restructure Pakistan and
its state institutions according to US wis es; two, to take control of its nuclear assets
since t ey cannot really be ³taken out´; and, t ree, to move it towards accepting Indian
egemony in t e region and to distance it from its strategic partners ip wit C ina.
W at as been t e strategy for implementing t is agenda? Vo create enoug c aos and
violence in Pakistan so as to be able to justify coming in and seizing control of t e
nuclear assets, restructuring a new state model for t e country, w ic would include
bringing it under Indian egemony. How would t is agenda be implemented? ?

First, t roug s ifting t e centre of gravity of t e war in Afg anistan to Pakistan. V is

as finally been accomplis ed t roug a number of interesting tactics. V e beginning
was made by allowing t e Al-Qaeda and Valiban to escape from Afg anistan during t e
Vora Bora bombings. V en t e internal destabilisation of Pakistan began t roug drone
attacks, w ic caused t e traditionally ig ly patriotic tribal population of FAVA to
gradually turn against t e state especially w en t e US pressured t e army into moving
into t is area. Also, India was given a free run in Afg anistan so money and weapons for
terrorists flowed in from Afg anistan into Baloc istan and FAVA as well as NWFP. In
addition, a new entity emerged wit its own violent agenda - t e VVP wit a uge stock
of weapons t at clearly ad come from across t e border since some of t em were of US
origin. Meanw ile, t e US gradually increased its covert presence in Pakistan -
beginning wit Varbela and t e so-called ³trainers´ as well as t e private US security
concerns t at ave traditionally worked as mercenaries for t e US government in places
like Iraq. Baloc istan also saw an increase in t e US presence, especially as t e US also
soug t to operationalise its covert operations against Iran t roug t is province and t e
bases Mus arraf ad so generously anded over to t e US. V ere was also t e Bandari
air base in an area 78 kilometres sout of K aran, near a place called S imsi - not
S amsi base w ic is on t e border wit Iran near Dalbandin - from w ere t e drones
ave been flying. ?
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V is is t e only airport t at is not listed as being under CAA control.?

All along, t e US at t e diplomatic and political levels was continuing wit its ³do more´
mantra and undermining t e credibility of t e military in terms of its intent vis-à-vis
fig ting extremism and terrorism. V e ISI especially was singled out for attack w ile t e
nuclear assets kept coming in for periodic targeting by t e US media. As t e US became
more bogged down in Afg anistan, it soug t to s ift its failures on to Pakistan so t at in
t e end many assume t at it is t is reason t at as forced t e US to s ift t e war to
Pakistan. However, t at may only be an offs oot of t e larger original game plan to
destabilise Pakistan from wit in by taking t e war to t e eart of t e country - w ic is
w ere t e situation stands poised rig t now. V e Mus arraf-US alliance would ave
continued, but for t e people of Pakistan¶s desire for justice and freedom w ic spurred
t e judicial movement w en Mus arraf overplayed is and. But once again t e nation
was s ort-c anged because t e US cleverly managed a new partner linked t roug t e
NRO. In Zardari t ey found an even more cooperative leader - and wit democratic
credentials to boot! If Mus arraf ad begun t e granting of unfettered access to t e US,
t e Zardari regime as taken it beyond all limits.?

V e second p ase of t e US implementation strategy as now begun to be operat-

ionalised - t at is, to destabilise Pakistan from wit in by increasing acts of terror carried
out in Pakistani cities t roug well-trained and well-equipped groups centring on VVP -
w ic finds no mention in t e Kerry-Lugar Act. Alongside, t e military as been tied
down in military operations, first in Swat and now in SWA - w ic as its own fallouts
in terms of terrorism and displacement of t e population. It as also become necessary
to isolate Pakistan from its neig bours and ence t e extensive terrorist attacks on
Iran¶s security forces in Sistan province bordering Pakistan¶s Baloc istan, so t at Iran-
Pakistan relations are destroyed - Iran being t e only friendly neig bour apart from
C ina. V e US covert presence in Pakistan as also now been put in place like a web -
beginning from Sind and Baloc istan in t e sout and sout west, to Punjab to t e
Capital to Pes awar. V ere are now US armed covert operatives along wit overt
marines surrounding t e Pakistanis and t eir nuclear assets. V e Kerry-Lugar Act
merely gives formal recognition to w at as already appened in practice - submission
to US diktat. ?

Only one last p ase of t e US agenda as to be operat-ionalised, but t at will be t e

toug est. V is is to pus t e country into a civil war-like situation by t reatening to
target Quetta and sout ern Punjab as well as Muridke. First t ere was pressure on t e
army to move into Swat; now it is SWA and t e new mantra of moving t e army into
sout ern Punjab as already begun! Overstretc t e military and create civil-military
fissures so as to totally destabilise t e country. W en t ere is a state of total c aos, t e
US can pressure t e UNSC into allowing it to takeover Pakistan¶s nuclear assets - w at
will eup emistically be termed ³under international control´. But t e big problem now
is t at too many in t e corridors of power in Pakistan are beginning to see t e lig t
w ile t e people ave also woken up to t e let al American agenda for Pakistan. Unless
we can see t e w ole US game plan, and connect all t e dots we will continue to fall prey
to t is destructive design. ?

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