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Ray · 11-04-2006, 16:08 PM

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Saturday, November 04, 2006 E-Mail this article to a friend Printer Friendly Version

Praise for Musharraf marred by Taliban

By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: While the US government continues to “lavish praise” on President Pervez Musharraf for his cooperation and role in the war on terror, many of Pakistan’s extremist groups and associated Islamic institutions appear to be operating with “near impunity” and fuelling the insurgency in Afghanistan, according to a veteran observer of the area and an acknowledged expert.

Marvin G Weinbaum of the Middle East Institute, who recently returned from a visit to Afghanistan and Pakistan, wrote in the Newark Star Ledger that Pakistan and the US were increasingly questioning the benefits of their strategic partnership. Musharraf’s commitment to a peace process with New Delhi had earned him high approval in Washington, yet Pakistan’s security services were blamed for complicity in terrorist acts against India, he said. The Pakistani president was applauded for his moderate vision in the face of reported violations of civil liberties, and a federal government powerless to enact reforms, he said.

According to Weinbaum, US policymakers may believe that President Musharraf is indispensable at Pakistan’s helm, but many critics balk at continuing to give him a “virtual pass” to perpetuate the military ascendance and resist a full probe of its past nuclear-related transfers. Even if many in Washington are willing to accept that his assurances to the US are sincere, they believe Musharraf’s domestic constraints make it doubtful he can deliver on his promises. In Pakistan, the president’s cooperation with the US, he argued, had become a “growing liability”.

Weinbaum wrote that Washington’s offer of nuclear cooperation with India and its denial to Pakistan were seen as testimony that the US had cast its lot economically and strategically with India. The Musharraf government’s unpopular, failed militarisation of the tribal agencies is generally seen in Pakistan as having been undertaken at the behest of the US. The public seemed prepared to accept intelligence sharing, but “sovereignty-sensitive” Pakistanis were deeply offended by Washington’s declaration that the American military would enter Pakistani territory, he wrote.

Weinbaum sees the shoring up of US-Pak relations as increasingly problematic. He argued that if “Washington must alter some policies, so too must Islamabad”.

Weinbaum wrote, “The US has too much at stake to remain as passive as it has. Washington refrained from criticising Musharraf when he claimed the presidency through referendum, enhanced his constitutional powers, pre-cooked elections, and then reneged on a pledge to take off his uniform. The US thereby managed to reinforce the impression it prefers military governments to democratic ones. A failure now to encourage Musharraf to open the political system will doom hopes for progressive policies. It will only produce a coalition inclined to be more confrontational with India and Afghanistan. For many in Pakistan, it would also confirm the US as a fickle ally that will once again desert Pakistan if it should succeed against Al Qaeda. For an alliance that endures, Washington must counter the widely-held view that the American partnership is with Musharraf and the army, not with the people of Pakistan.”
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...-11-2006_pg7_1

One of the impediments to winning the war in Afghanistan.