The US seems to be wavering on its attitude towards Pakistan. The initial pressure is now giving way to a ‘need’ driven attitude, where US lawmakers are stressing their dependence on the Musharraf regime for solving the mess in Afghanistan.
Peter Hoekstra, a Congressman on the intelligence committee, among others is now stressing that the US would need the Musharraf regime to survive, in the hope to bring order in Afghanistan.
We need stability in the regime. We need this regime to survive
Last week one saw the pressure being put on Musharraf to be tough on the militants, followed by a ‘threat’ that if he would not handle it, the US forced would.
The US maintains that security remains a major issue in the Pakistan region, but a ‘balancing act’ was required to make sure the current regime in Pakistan remained in power. It is now realising that if Pakistan were to back out from the situation, Washington will be in deep trouble. They “need”, and I cannot stress this enough, Pakistan in order to win in Afghanistan.
Possible reasons why the US is so dependent on Pakistan as an ally
One would wonder why is it that the US has always been so kind towards Pakistan. Why is it that the US ignores the growing militancy inside Pakistan, when the entire international community is screaming it out. The fact that the Pakistani intelligence officials work in close affiliation with the Taliban, and that majority of the violence is surviving in Pakistan itself is constantly alleged, but the US seem to be turning a blind eye towards all of this.
First of all, the US might be hoping that being inside Pakistan as its ally is the safest way to keep an eye on the growing militancy, at least for now.
Secondly, it also greatly requires the insider intelligence on the Taliban and Al-qaeda operations, as well as information pertaining to other terrorist organisations, which can only be provided by the Musharraf regime.
Infact Washington has always openly admitted the help it recieves from Islamabad in relation to the Taliban and Al-qaeda. Several US Congressman have consistently maintained that
The Pakistanis have been doing a number of things to help us go after al-Qaeda.
Thirdly, geographically as well, the Pakistani contiguity with Afghanistan is extremely important to the US for strategic reasons. This remains to be one of the major plus points Pakistan has for being in a negotiable position in its bilateral relations with the US.
In the present scenario, with the Taliban openly challenging the NATO troops in Afganistan of a major spring offensive this year, the US needs to do something, and fast, about it if it wants to survive. The US is literally putting all its eggs in the Afghan basket, which would ultimately determine its power status-quo at large. Who does not know that power status is ‘THE’ most important for the US, the superpower!
