By Yasmeen Ali
Lahore -- Ever since 9/11 and the subsequent 2001 invasion of Afghanistan by the US, Pakistan's world has been in turmoil.
Officially America's ally in the so-called War on Terror, Pakstan has actually been one of its biggest victims. Just recently, Pakistan was punished as the US Congress passed a bill imposing more conditions on aid, including specifically linking receipt of that aid to Islamabad's cooperation in the War on Terror, and to efforts to curb terrorists, including the Haqqani network.
Myra McDonald in her recent article states:
"The society which is being shaped by the Afghan war in ways which neither Pakistan's neighbors, nor western powers, would choose. The airstrikes, coming soon after the forced resignation of Pakistan's ambassador to Washington Husain Haqqani for allegedly seeking American help to curb the power of the military, have added fresh oxygen to a combustible mix of anti-Americanism and religious nationalism enveloping Pakistan."
So where should Pakistan go from here?
A good start would be for Pakistan to work at becoming less dependent upon the US. For while the interests of Pakistan and the US may converge on many points, including in Afghanistan, on many deeper, more vital points, they do not.
The US, understandably, wants a greater involvement of India in Afghanistan, as a counterbalance to Iran and China in that nation. This however, is naturally the opposite of Pakistan's interest.
The issue in Afghanistan is neither the Haqqanis, the Taliban, nor anyone else. The problem in Afghanistan is foreign involvement, and particularly the presence of foreign military forces.
Pakistan lies ravaged, with her economy destroyed, thanks to the country's deep involvement in the "War on Terror." Until and unless NATO (really US) troops withdraw, there will be no peace, in either Afghanistan or Pakistan.
Without peace, Pakistan continues on the path of destabilization.
However, the departure of foreign troops does not seem imminent. According to Ben Farmer of the British Telegraph newspaper, the Obama administration is now "negotiating" a "pact" with the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai that could leave American military "trainers" -- thousands of them -- as well as special operations forces, private mercenaries and the US Air Force, settled into some of the enormous Afghan bases the Pentagon has built there, where they will stay until as far into the future as 2024.
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