No end to
drone strikes
Prof Ali Sukhanver
According to media reports, the new ISI chief, General Zaheer-ul-Islam
would be in Washington on 2nd of August to hold talks with CIA Director David
Petraeus on counter-terror cooperation and intelligence sharing. Since after
the 'uncivilized and unethical' raid of the US marines in search of Osama bin
Laden in Abbottabad, the relationship between the two countries is continuously
at stake. Moreover the Salala incident in November 2011 and beheading of 17
Pakistani soldiers by the Afghan insurgents in the last week of June 2012 added
salt to the injuries.
US reaction over the sentencing of Dr. Afridi who illegally helped the
US authorities in locating Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad also widened the gulf.
But the most painfully pinching issue has been the continuous recurrence of
drone attacks on innocent people who in fact have nothing to do with the
terrorists and terrorism.
Though the government of Pakistan responded vehemently to all these
issues by ordering the US authorities to vacate the Shamsi Air Base and by
closing the NATO supply route through Pakistan but these actions could not
pacify the Pakistani nation. On the other hand, misguided by their arrogance of
power and ecstasy of opulence the US authorities started discrediting
Pakistan's civil-military leadership by criticising their policy decisions and
pressuring them through financial sanctions instead of offering apology.
Resultantly diplomatic relations between Pakistan and the US suffered a
setback.
Since after the Salala incident, the people of Pakistan have been
demanding two things; a clear-cut apology from the US authorities over Salala
incident and a full-stop to the drone attacks. In the beginning the US
authorities paid no heed to the demand of apology but ultimately they had to
surrender before the increasing pressure exerted by the government of Pakistan
and consequently there came an 'unwilling apology' from the US government
regarding the Salala brutality.
As far as the drone attack issue is concerned, the situation is still
the same. After reopening of the NATO supply line it was expected that there
would be a considerable reduction in drone attacks but the things have never
changed.
Gen. Zaheer-ul-Islam will have to concentrate largely upon the issue of
drone attacks during his talks with the US authorities in Washington. On behalf
of the whole Pakistani nation, he will have to convey the message to his US
counterpart that the security forces of Pakistan have all required ability and
skill to counter the drone attacks and Pakistan's silence over the drone
attacks must not be taken as cowardice or inability to respond to aggression;
this silence is simply an attempt to avoid apparently 'imminent' Third World War.
War in itself is a terrorist activity.
Being a peace loving country, Pakistan has always tried to avoid any
conflict and confrontation with its neighbouring countries. It has always been
a well-wisher even of its very unfriendly neighbours like Afghanistan and India
but it does not mean that Pakistan has no ability of responding to
insurgencies. Everyone has its own boiling point, some boil early and some take
more time.
The drones are doing nothing but pushing the Pak-US relations to a
point of no return. It is an important thing to be noted that Pak-US relations
at official level have been taking different turns and changes but the
relationship between the two nations has never been as bitter and pungent as it
is now. There was no hatred for America among the people of Pakistan before the
beginning of the drone attacks. The cruel drone attacks have pushed the
Pakistani nation to the verge of enmity with the US because these drones have
become a grave threat and a serious challenge to their existence and survival.
If drones stop slaughtering the innocent Pakistanis and the so-called war on
terror is kept limited only to the Afghan lands, all this hatred and enmity
would at once come to an end.
Our American friends, who are wasting a lot of their precious time and
valuable sources in showering rain of drones on innocent and helpless women and
children in the tribal areas of Pakistan, must try to realise that this action
of their is nothing but a callous brutality. The Pakistani nation has already
suffered from heavy losses in the form of damage to economy, casualties at the
hands of terrorists and suicidal attacks on officials of security forces and
intelligence agencies and even on the common public in the name of global war
on terror.
This immense loss deserves not to be paid back in the form of drones;
it is certainly a very unfair deal. Gen. Zaheer-ul-Islam will have to convey
the actual situation to his US counterpart that the people of Pakistan don't
hate America but strongly protest the way America is treating 'a friend in
need'. This protest is gradually turning into hostility and hatred with the
passage of time.
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