Afghanistan Reflections

September 11, 2001 is now deeply etched in memory. It was on this particular day that this writer too got off the fence, and for the first time felt enraged, not only as any sane human being on this planet but also as an American. Being a person of foreign origins who has lived in the United States for over a quarter century, I have often had doubts about some policies pursued by Washington. And I have expressed my disappointment and skepticism towards them on many occasions in print. But I also know that that there are certain lines of human decency that should never be crossed. Sadly, on September 11th a group of scum crossed them.

For several years my country of origin (Pakistan), and city of birth (Karachi), have been traumatized by the fallout of America’s victory against the former Soviet Union in Afghanistan. The proliferation of guns and heroin in Pakistani society both during and after this war, have caused irreparable social damage there. And what was started in the 1980’s is what we are all collectively

trying to clean up today. Pakistan is back on the front-line again, and this time it is not the Soviets that are the enemy but the very apparatus that was created (and never properly dismantled) to fight them.

Several years ago this writer can recall a request by the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mrs. Benazir Bhutto, requesting an exchange of databases with the United States that could provide information on extremists of every hue, born out of the Pakistan-Afghanistan theatre. It appears that nobody took her seriously then. And from the way things appear today (almost ten years after her request), that is what Pakistan and the United States must be doing these days.

One can go on and on with these “I told you so” reflections. But the fact remains that Osama Bin Laden was once the darling of the West in Afghanistan, even though in retrospect it was a fatal attraction. And if he is the person responsible for what occurred on September 11th then by all means let us make him pay dearly. But a word of caution to our leaders in Washington:

Let us not make any mistake in identifying the responsible party here, because Afghanistan is possibly the last place in this world where one should make errors and then try to correct them. If we must put our hand into a hornet’s nest, then let us not be guided by our current emotional state but by careful calculation.

And let us not forget that the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan once fought the Soviets to protect our vision of the world. We need to acknowledge the suffering that they have endured during that time and now. But as one who was once actually relieved at the arrival of the Taliban in Afghanistan in the mid 90’s, after various factions (including those in the current Northern Alliance) had succeeded in leveling most of the capital City of Kabul, I can now say that big mistakes were made. What many people were hoping then was for a final closure to this conflict. A viable governing structure in Afghanistan was and is in the interests of the whole region.

I have to strongly disagree with Afghan representative appearing in the American media these days and blaming Pakistan for the problems of Afghanistan. Instead I would like to forward the proposal that the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan can become their own best friends (and everyone else’s) if they could learn to get along with each another inside their own countries.

Blaming Pakistan is easy but I believe that the Afghans can learn a great deal about self-preservation from the example of the current regime in Pakistan. It is time to join the real world, to quit fighting and to learn the benefits of trade and commerce.

Military conflict will not get the Afghans or Pakistanis anywhere.

And now Pakistan: This writer has never been a great admirer of the Generals that have ruled Pakistan off and on during its short history. The current regime was no exception. But the recent decision made by General Musharraf to provide full support to the United States in its “Jihad” against terrorism, was not only about national self-preservation but also the right thing to do.

For that he has earned much respect and admiration, including mine.

Pakistan was in the Taleban-Afghan quicksand up to its armpits. It desperately needed a peaceful neighbor to the Northwest so that trade and commerce with the landlocked and newly independent Muslim states of Central Asia could bring rich dividends including oil pipelines. But for that to happen, Afghanistan had to have some law and order. This has been and still is the common Pakistani’s cherished goal.

To close here, one has to question the marriage of State power and the militant-religious clergy as an instrument of policy in Afghanistan or Pakistan (especially its promotion by the US or Saudi Arabia to influence the Central Asian Republics). Quite the opposite needs to be pursued. It is time to support moderates in the Islamic world and to discontinue giving birth to groups whose members practice fascism under the cloak of religion. And if we are unwilling to do exactly that then we need to resist the future temptation of creating Frankenstein monsters and leaving a country like a heavily sanctioned Pakistan to stop them.

But before all that happens, those responsible for the mass murder of September 11th need to face justice.