02 April 2008
Pakistan Sources of Stability
In a BBC World Service interview on April 2, 2008, a Pakistani official attributed unrest in the Tribal Areas of his country to the “U.S.” policy of fighting the Taliban. As he said, until 9/11 the Tribal Areas were peaceful.
Of course, that is just the problem. Pakistan’s policy up to then was to try to ignore the threat to world order posed by the Taliban government in Afghanistan, directly adjoining the Tribal Areas. The U.S. policy of eradicating the Taliban government in Afghanistan was genuinely a worldwide reaction to the violent attack on civilization that was fomented by the radicalism allowed by the Taliban on its territory.
The government of President Musharraf has collaborated, to the extent he believes his own political survival permits, with this international policy. This is the minimum level of cooperation that civilized nations have a right to demand of him. The policy that has led to the disruption of “peace” in the Tribal Areas may not have originated in Pakistan; but the Pakistan by which that policy had not been undertaken would have been legitimately considered an outlaw nation, subject to international sanctions or enforcement measures that surely would have been more upsetting to Pakistani officials.
In a BBC World Service interview on April 2, 2008, a Pakistani official attributed unrest in the Tribal Areas of his country to the “U.S.” policy of fighting the Taliban. As he said, until 9/11 the Tribal Areas were peaceful.
Of course, that is just the problem. Pakistan’s policy up to then was to try to ignore the threat to world order posed by the Taliban government in Afghanistan, directly adjoining the Tribal Areas. The U.S. policy of eradicating the Taliban government in Afghanistan was genuinely a worldwide reaction to the violent attack on civilization that was fomented by the radicalism allowed by the Taliban on its territory.
The government of President Musharraf has collaborated, to the extent he believes his own political survival permits, with this international policy. This is the minimum level of cooperation that civilized nations have a right to demand of him. The policy that has led to the disruption of “peace” in the Tribal Areas may not have originated in Pakistan; but the Pakistan by which that policy had not been undertaken would have been legitimately considered an outlaw nation, subject to international sanctions or enforcement measures that surely would have been more upsetting to Pakistani officials.
Comments:
Post a Comment
