PAKISTANIS TO HOLBROOKE: WE'RE SICK OF BEING PAWNS ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – As the Obama administration’s special envoy, Richard Holbrooke, meets with Pakistani officials this week, he is likely to find that a grim mood has gripped the country.
U.S. drone attacks are leading anti-American sentiment to soar, a Taliban insurgency is growing in strength, tensions with India have been renewed over the Mumbai terrorist attacks, and the war across in Afghanistan is going badly for the United States, causing problems to spill across the border in Pakistan.
Many here believe that Pakistan is going through an existential crisis of sorts – 67 percent of those polled by Gallup recently felt the situation would not improve.
"I am here to listen and learn the ground realities of this critically important country," Holbrooke said in a statement upon his arrival in Islamabad earlier this week.
One issue Holbrooke is sure to hear a lot about is the ongoing missile attacks from remotely piloted U.S. drones on al-Qaida and Taliban hideouts in Pakistan. The attacks have infuriated Pakistanis, who regard them as an infringement on their sovereignty. After each one, popular TV talk shows and newspaper columnists highlight the civilian casualties from the U.S. missiles – whipping up even more resentment on the Pakistani street.
Retired General Talat Masood, a political analyst and lecturer, says the policy should be modified.
"One idea that the Pakistanis have put forward to Mr. Holbrooke is to modify the drone policy to make it a joint venture that will be acceptable to all Pakistanis," he said. "The people have to feel that the threat is to both of our countries and that the U.S. is helping Pakistan because we don’t have the equipment to do it by ourselves."
Masood believes the government in Islamabad has failed to deliver that message and the people feel let down.
"To fight militancy effectively, the government has to mobilize the nation," Masood added, pointing to the government’s failure to come up with a consensual policy to fight the Taliban.
Feeling like pawns Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani president, is popular in Washington, but he has not been able to win over his countrymen. Pakistanis say they are being used as pawns in America’s war on terror. They are convinced that their government has secretly given Washington the go-ahead to broaden the drone policy, regardless of official protests after every U.S. missile strike.
Many analysts believe that there needs to be much better cooperation between the U.S. and Pakistani forces – including more sharing of technology and equipment – so that Pakistanis feel like they are more involved in defeating the enemy on their soil.
"The problem is that the Pakistan army is up against a hit and run ragtag force," said Javed Siddiq, the regional editor of Nawa-e-Waqt, a leading Urdu language daily.
"The militants use guerrilla warfare tactics – for example, our troops don’t have sufficient night vision equipment," he explained. "So whatever the army takes by day, they lose by night. The United States should give us the drone technology and night vision equipment so our army can effectively move against al-Qaida on our soil, instead of blaming us for failing all the time."
Humayun Gauhar, Pakistani author and political analyst agreed. "There has to be a change in thinking and a change in strategy to neutralize the militants," he said.
"Many so called Taliban in Pakistan are just gangsters who are too well-funded and too well-equipped not to be supported by foreign powers. They are often one step ahead of the Pakistan army," he said.
In Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province, Afrasiab Khattak, a senior politician of the ruling Awami Nationalist Party, believes anti-U.S. sentiment goes deeper than just the drone issue. He says U.S. wars have brought hardship to the Pakistani people for decades.
"First our soil was used by the U.S. against the former U.S.S.R. in Afghanistan and now again to fight al-Qaida," Khattak said, referring to when the U.S. used Pakistan as a staging ground to aid Afghanistan’s mujahideen fighters during the Soviet war in the 1980s. "We expect reforms in their [U.S.] policies and hope they realize the suffering they have caused by this campaign against terrorism," he added.
"In the end the only solution for the United States and for the region will be to negotiate with the Afghan Taliban – with those who are reconcilable," said Gauhar. "For the Afghan Taliban, it is a freedom struggle. You may think their cause is wrong but it is their cause to liberate their homeland, from those they consider occupiers, which determines the quantum and quality of their zeal."
Holbrooke has told Pakistanis that he will take all their sentiments back to Washington and that the entire United States policy for the region is under review.
"It is crucial to have the support of the people," said Masood. "The people might be against the militants, but they are also against the [Pakistani] army operations in their areas, which destroys their homes and displaces them in their own country."
The United States and NATO blame the al-Qaida and Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan’s tribal areas for the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. Pakistanis, meantime, will try to convince Holbrooke that it is precisely America’s pressure on Pakistan to do more to eliminate these safe havens that is fueling growing resentment of the United States.
"The people might be against the militants, but they are also against the [Pakistani] army operations in their areas, which destroys their homes and displaces them in their own country," said Masood. "It is crucial to have the support of the people."