Support to militants invites destruction and suffering
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Gopal Sengupta
The unilateral US action to eliminate Osama bin Laden without informing the Pakistan government or getting its authorisation is being widely questioned by the Pakistanis. On the one hand, Pakistan says it cooperated with the US in the global war on terror, which led to bin Laden's elimination. On the other, it pretends that it was not aware of his presence in Pakistan. The country is clearly in a dilemma. Pakistan does not know whether to take credit for helping the US or say it had nothing to do with bin Laden's killing. The US was right in keeping Pakistan out of the loop. Even a small clue would have prompted it to alert bin Laden. There can be only two possibilities. Pakistan has either been harbouring bin Laden, giving him protection, with the full knowledge of the military and the ISI, while siphoning off billions of dollars in the name of fighting terror. Or, it was genuinely unaware that bin Laden was living comfortably right under its nose, next to the military academy. Either way, it does not make sense for the US to treat Pakistan as a partner any more and waste billions of dollars. After spending trillions of dollars and 10 years, the US has learnt the truth about its sleeping partner of 40 years. It is ironical that the dollars which flowed into Pakistan to fight terrorists and help find Osama bin Laden were actually used to protect him. There are cries to declare Pakistan a terrorist state. It is already a terrorist haven. The US, in the name of helping the Mujahideen against the Soviet forces in Afghanistan, supported the Taliban and elements like bin Laden. It was only after they turned against the US and the West that they started eliminating these forces. Although Osama bin Laden is dead, the religious fundamentalism he nurtured, particularly in Central Asia, will continue to have an impact for many more years. Although bin Laden's killing is an important step in the fight against terror, we should not forget that he was a by-product of the US government's policies. He was nurtured by the CIA and has been killed only because he became anti-American. The root cause of terrorism has always been imperialistic attitudes of superpowers. The US army has yet again demonstrated its superiority. We pity the situation Pakistan is in. Its intelligence agencies failed miserably when they failed to discover that the world's most wanted criminal was living right under their nose. Another matter of serious concern to Pakistan is that a foreign power was able to operate within its territory and get away. And for us, it is a matter of grave concern that we have such a weak and poorly governed state as our neighbour. Although there is every reason for American citizens to celebrate, they cannot forget their government's role in creating the situation. It is the US that should learn a lesson or two from the episode, and desist from acting as the big brother. In its game plan to defeat the Soviet forces in Afghanistan, the US armed and trained bin Laden and his followers. After the withdrawal of the Soviet forces, the al-Qaeda trained its gun on its mentor. There is a vital lesson in this. Any support to a violent organisation will invite only destruction and suffering. When a nation looks at only short-term political gains, it does so at its own peril. The US should introspect and try to put an end to global terrorism which began with the invasion of Vietnam, and went on to Iraq and Afghanistan, all in the name of democracy. "Man's history is waiting in patience for the triumph of the insulted man," Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel-prize winning Bengali poet, once wrote. Triumph he had, but at a terrible price. The writer, based in Canada, can be reached at e-mail: gopalsengupta@aol.com
The unilateral US action to eliminate Osama bin Laden without informing the Pakistan government or getting its authorisation is being widely questioned by the Pakistanis. On the one hand, Pakistan says it cooperated with the US in the global war on terror, which led to bin Laden's elimination. On the other, it pretends that it was not aware of his presence in Pakistan. The country is clearly in a dilemma. Pakistan does not know whether to take credit for helping the US or say it had nothing to do with bin Laden's killing. The US was right in keeping Pakistan out of the loop. Even a small clue would have prompted it to alert bin Laden. There can be only two possibilities. Pakistan has either been harbouring bin Laden, giving him protection, with the full knowledge of the military and the ISI, while siphoning off billions of dollars in the name of fighting terror. Or, it was genuinely unaware that bin Laden was living comfortably right under its nose, next to the military academy. Either way, it does not make sense for the US to treat Pakistan as a partner any more and waste billions of dollars. After spending trillions of dollars and 10 years, the US has learnt the truth about its sleeping partner of 40 years. It is ironical that the dollars which flowed into Pakistan to fight terrorists and help find Osama bin Laden were actually used to protect him. There are cries to declare Pakistan a terrorist state. It is already a terrorist haven. The US, in the name of helping the Mujahideen against the Soviet forces in Afghanistan, supported the Taliban and elements like bin Laden. It was only after they turned against the US and the West that they started eliminating these forces. Although Osama bin Laden is dead, the religious fundamentalism he nurtured, particularly in Central Asia, will continue to have an impact for many more years. Although bin Laden's killing is an important step in the fight against terror, we should not forget that he was a by-product of the US government's policies. He was nurtured by the CIA and has been killed only because he became anti-American. The root cause of terrorism has always been imperialistic attitudes of superpowers. The US army has yet again demonstrated its superiority. We pity the situation Pakistan is in. Its intelligence agencies failed miserably when they failed to discover that the world's most wanted criminal was living right under their nose. Another matter of serious concern to Pakistan is that a foreign power was able to operate within its territory and get away. And for us, it is a matter of grave concern that we have such a weak and poorly governed state as our neighbour. Although there is every reason for American citizens to celebrate, they cannot forget their government's role in creating the situation. It is the US that should learn a lesson or two from the episode, and desist from acting as the big brother. In its game plan to defeat the Soviet forces in Afghanistan, the US armed and trained bin Laden and his followers. After the withdrawal of the Soviet forces, the al-Qaeda trained its gun on its mentor. There is a vital lesson in this. Any support to a violent organisation will invite only destruction and suffering. When a nation looks at only short-term political gains, it does so at its own peril. The US should introspect and try to put an end to global terrorism which began with the invasion of Vietnam, and went on to Iraq and Afghanistan, all in the name of democracy. "Man's history is waiting in patience for the triumph of the insulted man," Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel-prize winning Bengali poet, once wrote. Triumph he had, but at a terrible price. The writer, based in Canada, can be reached at e-mail: gopalsengupta@aol.com