A Catastrophe, by Any Measure

Washington remains convinced that only financial aid will save Pakistan (176 million people) from falling into the hands of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Pakistan, however, believes the real danger is imported from India, and is not necessarily the Taliban, even though the Taliban and Al Qaeda control vast areas of Pakistan.

Last week, United States Army General David Petraeus demanded from Congress swift financing to provide Pakistani forces with necessary weapons to fight the militants. He knows the Pakistani army is penetrated by the Taliban and Al Qaeda; he knows the Taliban movement is pampered by the Pakistani intelligence and, thus, billions of U.S. dollars have been spent in vain over the past eight years.

Senator John Kerry, head of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs Committee, after returning from Pakistan, was forced to admit the country is in real danger, and there no U.S. policy or plan currently in place to deal with it. Militants gained ground when they recently advanced to a strategic spot near Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, evidently without the least resistance from security forces, who either hid, fled, or gave up. Only the army’s belated intervention – under American pressure, by the way – kept them from Islamabad.

Apparently, Pakistani governmental concessions to the Taliban have been interpreted as weakness, leading to more daring on the part of the armed movement. The Taliban now appears encouraged to increase its numbers, with the result that hundreds of gunmen now wander the streets of major cities, wreaking havoc by closing courts, girls’ schools and barbershops, and killing their opponents. The Taliban may be stoking its own self-confidence in the capacity to engage in more of the same; thus, many fear that continuation of the current situation will result in armed rebels soon knocking on the doors of Islamabad.

There is nothing obviously effective to be said or done by Obama during the summit scheduled to be held within the next few days in Washington, with his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Ali Zardari, and Afghani President Hamid Karzai. Will he encourage them to engage in dialog with the Taliban? Can they be threatened with the withholding of financial aid, unless they fight militants? Or can Obama promise to increase financial aid, in spite of the deterioration in security? To what extent can evil remain in a country armed with 100 nuclear bombs? Will this not threaten the world’s security and stability?

The long and short of it is this: The situation in Pakistan is a catastrophe, by any measure!