The Puppet Speaks

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is an interesting fellow for a number of reasons. He is in the habit of treading into uncharted waters quite often. Is he behaving normally? Yes and no. Yes, because there is nothing new in what he has done; no, because he has not shown utter disregard to a country’s sovereignty before. Irony blankets the whole episode. While Karzai cannot step out from his vehicle without risking his life, and largely owes his existence to the presence of Nato forces in Kabul, he spews out venom against another country for the fragile situation that he has been unable to control despite all the resources at his disposal.

Understandably, Pakistan was taken aback by the sudden volley of uncalled for criticism by Karzai. If anything, that is more of a tragi-comedy than a statement to be taken seriously. Karzai’s recent diatribe against Pakistan, among other things, reminds one of Pakistan’s Punjabi movies, in which the blood-soaked hero makes the pledge of eliminating his enemy’s generations — and he does somehow. But, sadly, Karzai does not hold the moral high ground that our daring hero occupies. Nor we happen to be the devastated few. So there is no comparison.

Not much thought seems to have been given by Karzai in choosing the words and expression. That is why, after the high-sounding statement backfired, Karzai had to eat his words and say that his shots were fired at the bad guys alone — Mullah Omer, Baitullah Mehsud, and Maulana Fazlullah — and not the government of Pakistan. How naive! Still, Karzai has not surprised his rivals since he has done the same thing again — blaming Pakistan for all the terrorist activities happening on Afghanistan’s soil. But the tone, the words, and the message were louder than what was expected of him as a president of an ‘independent’ country.

Why did he utter the most irresponsible and provocative words in the full view of the international media? Did it serve his purpose? Perhaps not! That has only further exposed Karzai’s helplessness before the Taliban who exhibited their strength in April this year on the eve of the 16th anniversary of the end of the Communist regime in Kabul. Karzai had to run for his life on that occasion.

Common sense will be of some use here for the government of Kabul. Pakistan is not responsible for whatever is going on in its neighbourhood. Since it is an ally in the war on terror, all it can do is clearing its tribal areas of the terrorist elements. And this is what it has been doing for the last about eight years now with all the firepower it has. In turn, it has faced the unstoppable monster of suicide bombings in the very heart of Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.

The timing of President Karzai’s statement says it all. Nato forces continue to pounce on the Taliban targets without gaining a decisive victory while on the other side of the border the government of Pakistan has extended a hand of friendship to those Taliban who have made up their mind, or are ready to make up their mind, to renounce violence and walk on the path of dialogue and peace. The Bush administration is not happy with Pakistan’s new approach of fighting the terror war. Eliminate them all, says the Bush thinking. It may not be an ideal solution, says the government of Pakistan.

There is another aspect to Karzai’s outburst against Pakistan that has political leanings. President Musharraf is under fire from the political parties. Even his last recourse — Asif Ali Zardari — has also jumped onto the bandwagon of Musharraf bashers. Lest anyone forgets, Musharraf is still in the good books of President Bush and he may not like to see Musharraf being made an example of. Then, as Bush packs up to walk out of the White House, he wants to see his unfinished business making some progress. Osama is out there somewhere in the mountains and the Taliban remain an untamed tiger. The situation has certainly become full circle. Is the US any safer than what it was immediately after 9/11?

The whole basis of waging the war on terror stands on the house of cards. That was evident from the very beginning — the attack on the Twin Towers and the ensuing US-led military incursion into Afghanistan. The most ridiculous aspect of the whole exercise is that we still do not know who actually did it despite all the intelligence networks and US’ military and air force superiority. In this context, the blame for the mess has to be pinned on someone or something; why not try Pakistan?

President Karzai knows that well. But since his critics accuse him of being on the payroll of the US, he will have to look beyond the immediate interests of the US and broaden his view. It may not make much sense to President Karzai but he should understand that blindly towing the line of the US is not good for the fragile peace and stability of the region. In the long run, it is also not in the interest of Afghanistan that is connected to Pakistan with ethnic, cultural and geographical bonds.

Afghanistan remained a blue-eyed boy of the US as long as it was needed to oust the Communists that came hunting for the warm waters. Arms and cash flowed into Afghanistan and Pakistan for the ‘jihad’ to be a success story. Eventually, after the communists were made to retreat, the US turned its back on the once holy warriors. The seeds of discontent had been sown.

It is quite unlikely though but the US administration, and by extension President Karzai, should understand that brute military force alone cannot do the required work. It has not done so far. Rather, military option should have been the last resort as far as the tribal areas of Pakistan are concerned. It has to be a long-term process, whereby bringing the centuries-old tribal society into he mainstream political process. The US, the next administration is likely to be no exception, wants quick results. There are none. The US will have to do some soul-searching to find out why the situation has come to this pass. Mindsets have to be changed to produce something concrete in terms of security and stability. Unless that happens, there will be no end to extremism that has given us sleepless nights.