- WASHINGTON (ANI) -- In the
year 2002, Pakistan's image in the United States went through a drastic
change. When the year began, Pakistan was one of America's closest allies
in the war against terror, reports Dawn.
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- And now that the year nears end, it has been placed on
a list of states whose citizens are considered a security threat to the
United States.
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- From Jan 13, Pakistanis living in the United States will
have to register with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. They
will be interviewed, photographed, fingerprinted, and asked about their
political affiliations, religious leanings and family connections. Those
considered suspicious can be arrested, deported and barred from visiting
the United States.
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- Pakistan's relations with the United States are once
again passing through a defining phase. The next few months will unravel
whether Pakistan remains an American ally or is again pushed out of Washington's
circle of friends.
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- A close US ally during the Cold War, Pakistan first lost
its strategic importance as a key outpost against communism after the Soviet
withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989.
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- The Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, however, brought
Pakistan back on the central stage. Asked to join the US-led war against
terrorism, Pakistan dumped its former Taliban allies and came over to the
Americans, providing military bases to US troops for operations into Afghanistan.
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- But this has never been a comfortable relationship. The
Pakistanis have been concerned that once this war is over, the Americans
will abandon them again. The Americans fear that as religious sentiments
grow, extremists may take over this country of 140 million Muslims.
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- Such a take-over looks particularly menacing to the Americans
because Pakistan is the only Muslim country with nuclear weapons. There
are people in Washington who say that a religious government in Islamabad
might hand over its nuclear weapons to the extremists for threatening the
West.
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- There are also apprehensions that as religious sentiments
grow, Pakistan will become increasingly ineffective in the war against
terrorism.
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- The emergence of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal as a strong
force in the Oct 10 elections has further increased Washington's fears.
MMA runs the NWFP and is also a ruling partner in Balochistan, the two
provinces where US officials believe a large number of Al Qaeda and Taliban
fighters fled to after the collapse of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan
in December, 2001.
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- The Americans have their troops and intelligence agents
in both the provinces and are pursuing the Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters
with the help of Pakistan army. Although it is the central government in
Islamabad that decides who Pakistan supports in this war, some in Washington
believe the provincial government can create problems if it wants to do
so. After all, they argue, it is the provincial government that controls
police.
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- Education also is a provincial subject. This means that
the Americans may not be able to implement their plan to reform the madrasas,
a key element in their strategy to fight terrorism.
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- America's fears aside, Pakistan also failed to diversify
its relations with the United States. Unfortunately, it remains a one-issue
relationship. Pakistan is America's friend because Washington needs Islamabad's
assistance to fight terrorists.
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- As America's focus moves to Iraq, the only issue that
ties Pakistan to the United States is also beginning to lose its charm.
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- So far efforts to expand this relationship to other areas
have not been very fruitful.
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- Pakistan's attempt to become a major exporter of textiles
to the United States is resisted by the powerful textile lobby in the American
South. Instead, its American allies have urged Pakistan to diversify its
exports but one year is too short a time to do so.
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- Similarly, the Bush administration's efforts to encourage
American businessmen to invest in Pakistan have not been very fruitful
either. Pakistan may be a key US ally, but it still is a country with a
dismal law-and-order record. And businessmen, American or others, are always
reluctant to invest their money in a country where they do not feel safe.
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- There are people in the media, Congress and the Bush
administration who say that Pakistan is fast losing its usefulness as an
ally. The media are questioning Pakistan's commitment to fight terrorism.
A congressman is moving a bill in the House of Representatives, urging
it to impose sanctions on Pakistan for allegedly providing nuclear assistance
to North Korea. He claims that 30 other congressmen also support his move.
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- External pressure is also having an impact. Russian President
Vladimir Putin's recent statement that Pakistan is not capable of protecting
its nuclear weapons also has hurt Islamabad.
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- Putin's statement came at a time when the American press
was already blaming Pakistan for sharing nuclear technology with North
Korea in return for Korean missiles. And Pakistan's denials have not suppressed
such speculations.
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- Widespread anti-American sentiments in Pakistan and attacks
on Christian installations are not helping either. Pakistani Americans
often complain that there seems to be no realization in Pakistan that its
uneven friendship with the world's sole superpower is passing through a
critical stage.
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- What Islamabad faces in Washington now are the new realities
of a changing relationship. Reports in the US news media often say that
people within the Pakistani government, particularly the military intelligence,
still sympathize with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Pakistan's routine denials
are not always quoted.
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- While the State Department says that there are no religious
extremists in the new government in Pakistan, newspapers and television
channels never tire of pointing out that MMA controls a key northern province
and can force the fragile central government to share power with it in
Islamabad as well.
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- Since September this year, when the New York Times first
reported alleged nuclear links between Pakistan and North Korea, the attacks
on Pakistan have increased. It is often called the regional hub for terrorism
and a major source of heroin smuggled to the West. (ANI)
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- Copyright © 2001 ANI-Asian News International. All
rights reserved.
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