Negroponte’s veiled threat

US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte while speaking at a forum of the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy on Monday demanded Pakistan to live up to its commitment of urgently bringing security under control in the Tribal Areas, allegedly used as a safe haven by Al Qaeda and Taliban militants. In his veiled threat in diplomatic language Mr Negroponte warned that Americans don’t want to see the Tribal Areas being used as a platform for plotting and executing international terrorist activity against the West.
Ever since the elected Government came to power, several American officials and Congressmen visited Pakistan to have firsthand information about the policy to be pursued by it in the war on terror and tried to assert their point of views. However in line with its declared policy of reconciliation, they were frankly told, and rightly so, that Pakistan would deal with the problem of extremism and terrorism in FATA in line with local traditions. Fighting the menace of terrorism is in Pakistan’s own interest as no society can prosper without secure environment. However, the previous policy of confronting the militants head on did not pay and in retaliation they adopted the path of suicide bombing in which PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto and hundreds of other innocent civilians lost their lives. This was due to misperception among the militants that Pakistan was fighting the American war against them. The policy-makers at the Foreign office must make Washington understand that it is in their long-term interests to consider a change of strategy and let Pakistan establish its sovereignty and give it some breathing space for this war to be won. The US must also realize that the menace of terrorism spread because of suppression of the rights of the people be they in Palestine, Afghanistan or Iraq. What is certain is that ultimately war on terror can only be won by winning the hearts and minds of the people and not by threats or use of force. We hope Pakistan Government will resist the US pressure, avoid confrontation with extremists and people in FATA will be associated in dialogue process to bring an end to all terrorist activities inside Pakistan and across the border.