SPY EYES

By Ahsan Waheed

In today’s environment of hypocrisy, backstabbing, snooping and state sponsored secret surveillance and destabilization you have to be paranoid. In fact paranoia may be good as a policy considering the blatant exploitation of our vulnerabilities. From this angle one must carefully examine seemingly disconnected events that collectively have a negative effect on our country. If you believe such occurrences to be coincidences then you probably also believe in the tooth fairy and Santa Claus.

Consider the following. Pakistan’s Prime Minister is on his first official visit to the US. His schedule includes meetings with President Obama, Vice President Biden, Secretaries Kerry and Hagel, the National Security Adviser Rice and the CIA Director Brennan — and he intends raising issues like Drone strikes, Aafia Siddiqui, terrorism and ‘trade not aid’ etc. The media builds up hype on the PM’s agenda and raises expectations. The US public stance is subdued but on another level much happens to create difficulties for Pakistan. Our former ambassador in the US decides to time the release of his book “Magnificent Delusions” with the PM’s visit and a juicy quote from the book hits the headlines — ‘my country supports terrorism’. Then this former ambassador decides to give a series of interviews, including one to Indian TV, to promote his book and more juicy tidbits follow to the amazement and delight of Indians and Americans. Then a writer whose specialty is Taliban and Afghanistan decides to raise an issue that the US has not touched on — Pakistan’s tactical nuclear weapons — and indicates that these are a reality and not something that Pakistan is testing and considering to meet the growing threat to its security from the East. As if on cue the Line of Control in Kashmir is activated by India in spite of an agreed cease fire and India starts bleating about infiltration from the Pakistani side completely disregarding the fact that Pakistan is least likely to undertake such a venture when its PM is talking of peace and visiting Washington.  India’s statement that the attackers left behind weapons with Pakistani markings was pathetic especially when its own former Army Chief had publicly admitted sponsoring and funding covert activities inside Pakistan to destabilize it. The US media suddenly discovers documents that reveal the Pakistan government’s approval and connivance in the US Drone strikes in Pakistan. There are also not so veiled references to the  Pakistan’s senior military leadership hobnobbing with US senior military leaders while the CIA and ISI worked at cross purposes — a memo from the Foreign Office to its Ambassador in Washington to restrict visa issues because Pakistan was being swamped with CIA agents has also been conveniently leaked!! All coincidences made in heaven you could say.

The media — or at least one channel — is making startling disclosures and one such item is a statement that the US President announced a payment of millions of dollars to a particular TV channel in Pakistan to ‘promote’ its image. The media is also using analysts and government functionaries to assess the success, if any, of the PM’s visit to the US. Predictably the picture they are painting is not pretty. How can it be — with our former Ambassador to the US singing like a canary for his supper?

Actually going by the past Pakistan should be worried about what the US and its supporters will discuss with Pakistan after the US has moved billions of dollars equipment out of Afghanistan through Pakistan and all or most of its forces have exited from there. When we partnered the US against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan all our problems started when the US objectives had been achieved. Even the F 16’s paid for by Pakistan were stopped and the equipment cleared for shipment and at ports was with held. So the silence by the US on many issues is ominous especially because of the Pakistani ‘assets’ that are available to the US. Pakistan’s political leaders need to get their act together to meet present and future challenges. This is not the time for political in-fighting within parties, anti-government movements, media wars, speculations on the civil-military relationship, past misdeeds and ambiguous vibes on those who seek to destabilize us. This is the time to come together as never before and get our policies right for the present and the future.

Pakistanpal’s Blog