|
Real
War on Terror is in Pakistan!
Leon
Hadar
Influenced
by his neoconservative advisers, President Bush once portrayed
the American invasion of Baghdad and the ouster of Saddam Hussein as
a pivotal battle in the global war on terrorism. According to this
view, the Baath regime in Baghdad had extensive ties to radical
Moslem terrorist groups, including al Qaeda, and was in the process
of stockpiling weapons of mass destruction (WMD). It was thus
necessary to take the war on terrorism to Iraq to prevent the
worst-case scenario: that Saddam Hussein would supply anti-American
terrorists with nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and help
them stage an even more nightmarish 9/11-type attack on the United
States.
Well,
even the president now admits that Washington has no evidence of a
link to Osama Bin Ladin or to al Qaeda, and inspectors haven't found
any WMD. If anything, the political chaos in post-war Iraq and the
growing anti-American sentiments there has made the area a magnet
for al Qaeda-style terrorists. Further, the fall of the secular
Baath regime could lead to the election of an anti-U.S. and
Fundamentalist Shiite-controlled government, not unlike the one that
reigns in Teheran.
More
importantly, while Americans have been searching for WMD and for al
Qaeda agents in Iraq, they could have discovered those same threats
in Pakistan, a country the Bush administration describes as one of
America's leading allies in the war on terrorism. In Pakistan, there
are legions of bin Ladin followers; plenty of links between
government officials and terrorists; and nuclear weapons that could
fall into the hands of anti-American terrorists. This is not
speculation.
Indeed,
Pakistan, under President Pervez Musharraf -- the general who, in a
coup, overthrew a democratically elected government -- and whose
military and security services had served before 9/11 as the leading
backer of the Taliban, seems to be undermining stability in
neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistan also is reportedly harboring
Islamic militants, fighting Indian forces in Kashmir and elsewhere,
and playing an active role in the proliferation of nuclear weapons,
which it has already developed -- unlike Iraq or Iran, the latter
another member of the infamous Axis of Evil. Several respectable
news outlets, including Newsweek, have reported that members of a
resurgent Taliban, enjoying the support of Pashtun tribes as well as
sympathetic Pakistani military officers led by the Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI), are using Pakistan as a base for strikes against
the U.S.-backed government in Kabul. In fact, some intelligence
experts suspect that Osama bin Ladin and other al Qaeda and Taliban
leaders may have found sanctuaries in the so-called Federally
Administered Tribal Areas in Pakistan.
At
the same time, some members of the Pakistani security forces
continue to provide assistance Islamic militant fighting against
India's rule in Kahsmir. Indeed, U.S. officials admit that Musharraf
has failed to crack down on those who support the fighters in
Kashmir, who threaten to ignite war -- possibly one that could turn
nuclear -- between Pakistan and India.
More
of a concern for the United States is the growing evidence that
Pakistan's nuclear program -- an arsenal believed to contain between
35 and 60 nuclear weapons -- may have become a source of technology
for North Korea and Iran. Also, some evidence points to some
Pakistani nuclear scientists maintaining ties to al Qaeda and other
extremist Islamic groups. All of this suggests that under various
scenarios, including the collapse of Musharraf's rule or a coup
staged by radical Islamists, Pakistan could turn into a
nuclear-armed ally of al Qaida.
Ironically,
while Washington has been shoring up Pakistan's military regime and
perpetuating Pakistan's mismanaged and corrupt economic system, the
U.S. has refused to take a step that could help members of
Pakistan's middle class and its Western-oriented entrepreneurs, open
American markets to Pakistani textiles.
Under
pressure from the U.S. textile lobby and other powerful
protectionist groups, the Bush administration and Congress have been
unwilling to make tough, but, necessary decisions. They are
unwilling to help revive the economies of poor Moslem countries,
such as Pakistan, by providing their exports with access to American
markets. That protectionist policy not only undermines the interests
of American consumers, but also plays into the hands of radical
groups in Pakistan and elsewhere who are always ready to exploit the
misery of the unemployed and the angry.
While
the United States should work with Pakistan in the economic arena,
it should refrain from embracing the Musharraf regime as an ally. In
a way, Pakistan -- not Iraq -- remains a central stage in America's
continuing antiterrorism campaign. By diverting scarce military and
economic resources to fight an unnecessary war in Iraq, Washington
may have weakened its ability to contain those who perpetrated the
9/11 terrorist acts and their benefactors.
By
a SPECIAL arrangement
with the CATO Institute. |
