Radical, but Plausible: A V-Turn
01 June, 2011
By Engr. Sharique Naeem
The May 27th statement of Hillary Clinton, was a clear warning to Pakistan to precisely pursue all American demands. A warning, which in Senator Kerry’s words: "The road ahead will not be defined by words. It will be defined by actions."
The fact that our leadership both civilian and military has completely bowed down in their subservience no longer stands questionable. Indeed the only time we find the leadership criticizing U.S, is when their complacency with U.S is exposed, either through WikiLeaks, or ever-bolder provocations by U.S Military.
The same pretext which Musharraf used, i.e. if Pakistan had refused to cooperate with America, it would have faced annihilation, is being used by the present leadership. This logic is both realistically and historically flawed. In the Past Muslims, united under the Caliphate, had made strategic progresses against odds. Rustam could not defend Persia, the walls of Constantinople couldn’t save Byzantines, nor could Richard I of England and Philip II of France during the Third Crusade continue their occupation of Jerusalem from the liberating armies of the Caliphate. Strategic insight obliges one to learn from these monumental manoeuvres. The ingredients required for implementing the lessons learnt from out past, are present today as well. Pakistan a nuclear power, a population with high youth ratio, a yearning for change, coupled with the talent base is a perfect recipe to initiate a state, that can stand strong. To trigger, the real change requires a sincere leadership.
The chain of stances which this new state may take, can be objectively evaluated to precisely see the practicality of it. To start with, the state should sever diplomatic ties with the government of American and Britain, and expel their diplomatic and non-diplomatic staff. If Bolivia and Venezuela can drive out US ambassadors for internal interference, certainly Pakistan can
Simultaneously, the state should withdraw all types of military assistance to the American. Deny them access to Pakistani military bases, airspace and waterways. Additionally, banish US military and intelligence personnel and cease intelligence cooperation with them.
Coupled with cutting the supply lines to NATO, and seizure of their military assets, Pakistan can strategically retire America from this region; a move which would be welcomed by the two regional powers. China has repeatedly expressed its concerns over growing U.S influence in the region, and will protect its market in Pakistan, and most definitely look forward for a whole new market in Afghanistan. Also, the move goes in stragic favour of Russia, who finds itself increasingly daunted by the Manevours of America in its backyard, example the tensions witnessed in Georgia, the deployment of Missile Shield program in Poland, and this month(May) extending it to include Romania.
With regards to internal Policy, while the Pakistan’s army guards its frontiers with airplanes, tanks and missiles; the state should implement the system of Islam, which has the forbearance of dealing all issues of economy & society, and make the best use of its natural resources.
Likewise, radical it may sound, but quite possible when objectively analyzed. Pakistan should open its door for the sincere Muslims of FATA and Baluchistan to be incorporated within its ranks, as it strives to remove the imperialist border that divides the Muslims and thereby unify Afghanistan and Pakistan into a single entity. This will suffocate the imperialist armies and make it extremely difficult for them to pursue their present - already dwindling - war of terror.
Required too, will be this new State’s amplification of show of strength. (Show of strength here is fundamentally different from threats of chaos). For this, the state should deploy Nuclear weapons all over Pakistan and warn the Imperialists and their allies of a stern response should they persist in their violation of Pakistan`s territorial integrity. (Again here, the warning is not a declaration of war). This manoeuvre will not weaken Pakistan. Infact it will fortify the State`s ability to effectively counter regional and international threats. A real example of this, can be seen in a small nuclear country like North Korea which managed to spurn US advances. Certainly Pakistan, a far stronger nuclear power with the seventh largest army in the world, is in a far better position to accomplish much more.
Last but not the least, to counter the much drummed about threat from India, Pakistan should extend all forms of cooperation to the Kashmiri Muslims. This will keep the Indian forces pre-occupied. And having it’s ability already eroded in Afghanistan(as a result of Pakistan winning over power brokers in Afghanistan after cutting the NATO supply), India will not be in a position to launch a full scale offence. To reassure this the superiority of the Pakistani army displayed at Kargil servers as a reminder.
All, this can be achieved, by a sincere leadership. The fact that these steps and manoeuvres sound radical, should not prevent one, from objectively evaluating the practicality of them. Indeed, history testifies to this fact, that all great things achieved –especially in the realm of state strategy – were fundamentally radical, yet plausible; and were made possible only by a committed leadership, a leadership who knew it could, it should, and it would stand for the right state strategy.
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