A way out for America
Mohammad Jamil
Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek, an India-born American, had once the
ambition to become Secretary of State in the land of opportunities but
as the luck would have it, he had to be content with being an
anchorperson. Earlier, he was balanced and logical in his articles but
for some time he is articulating as Indian lobbyist-cum-neocons’
spokesman. Fareed Zakaria in his article written just before Manmohan
Singh’s visit to America wrote: “Strangely, however, that strategic
focus has been lost in dealing with Asia’s other rising giant, India. At
one level the administration is being extremely friendly. India’s Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh comes to Washington this week for the first
official state visit of the Obama presidency. There will be toasts and
celebrations and many nice words said in public about the ties between
the two great democracies. But underneath this lies unease about the
state of the relationship”. One does not understand why Fareed Zakaria
for some time has started behaving as a lobbyist for India.
Instead of embracing sham nationalism, he should have emulated Jean Paul
Sarter who had refused to accept noble prize on the grounds that he was
a citizen of a country (France), which was trying to crush freedom
movement of the Algerians. Referring to Indian officials worry he said:
“The Obama team does not have the same fundamental orientation as the
Bush administration regarding India’s role in the 21st century. He
should realize that America needs Pakistan even if it decides to
withdraw from Afghanistan to secure its interests in Central Asian
Republics. He should also understand that America and members of nuclear
supplier’s group may get business from India for $100 billions over a
period of five years, but America has saved $500 billion during the last
seven years due to the transit facility allowed by Pakistan for
equipment, food, fuel and other items for the American and NATO forces
in Afghanistan, as this is the nearest, cheapest and the most viable
route for deliveries of above items. Despite denials from both sides,
there are indications that there are indirect contacts between the US
and the Taliban. If this is true it is sensible move, as unless the
majority Pushtuns are taken on board, peace would remain an illusion in
Afghanistan. America has spent more than one trillion dollars on these
two misadventures, and financial meltdown and recession has brought
America on the brink. It is in this backdrop that America has to look
for the way out.
In Iraq, the semblance of normality one witnessed today is due to the
right mix – the majority is at the helm and ruling the country, whereby
grievances of sunni minority have been addressed and this policy has
helped isolate Al Qaeda in Iraq. Afghanistan was ruled throughout its
history by the majority Pushtuns. After 9/11, America invaded
Afghanistan and then onwards Northen Alliance dominated the government
under Hamid Karzai, which is not acceptable to the majority. And unless
that position is reversed there is not a speck of chance for peace in
Afghanistan. The problem is that pillars of Obama administration are not
working in cohesion resulting in more chaos and confusion. Neocons and
Jewish lobby demand of the Obama administration to focus on Pakistan
describing it fountainhead of terrorism. Whereas Generals do not see eye
to eye with the Vice-President Joe Biden and want 40000 more boots in
Afghanistan. Having said that, one has to admit that there is some
change the way CIA is operating, as it does not have a free hand former
president Bush had given to it vis-à-vis India. This is borne of the
fact that the top US Commander General Stanley McChrystal in his report
to Pentagon had mentioned about destabilizing effects of increasing
Indian influence in Afghanistan, saying it could further escalate
tension in the region of high-stakes importance to the United States. He
admitted that the current Afghan government is perceived to be
pro-Indian; and Indian activities and increasing Indian influence in
Afghanistan is likely to exacerbate regional tensions, fearing serious
Pakistani concerns in response to the development.
As is obvious from joint statement issued after meeting between
President Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the US wants
India to be considered not only as a regional power but a world power.
In fact US-India flirtation had started during Bill Clinton’s
presidency. For president Bush had signed civil-nuclear agreement
granting India the benefits of a member of the nuclear non-proliferation
treaty without requiring it to meet all of the responsibilities expected
of responsible states.
India had remained outside the international nuclear mainstream since it
misused Canadian and US nuclear assistance to conduct its 1974 nuclear
bomb test; refused to sign the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, and
conducted additional nuclear tests in 1998. By adopting the nuclear
bill, Congress had disregarded the provisions that would have required
commitments from India to restrain its production of nuclear weapons and
nuclear bomb material. With ignominious defeat in Vietnam in 1970s and
then 9/11 events, invincibility of present day America was shredded into
smithereens. Instead of identifying the reasons as to why many people in
the world hate America and addressing the grievances of other countries,
former President George Bush invaded Afghanistan and Iraq inviting
retaliation and hostilities. America has spent more than one trillion
dollars on these two misadventures, and financial meltdown and recession
has brought America on the brink. The problem had started after Soviet
Russia withdrew from Afghanistan, and the US left it to the CIA to run
the affairs, which operated with the help of Northern alliance.
Of course, there was civil-war like conditions when various groups were
fighting to have control of the country. As the people of Afghanistan
were fed up with the death and destruction due to invasion by Soviet
forces and then internecine conflicts between the jihadi organizations,
Taliban used the contradictions to control at least 90 per cent of the
country. And even now after nine years of American and its allies’
presence, the Taliban control at least 60 per cent of Afghanistan.
If history is any guide, nobody should make long term plans to stay in
Afghanistan. If the US is looking for an honourable exit, it should
facilitate the Northern Alliance and Pushtuns to agree on a working
relationship to avoid civil war. Syndicated columnist George Will in his
recent column quoted Military historian Max Hastings who said: “Kabul
controls only about a third of the country - control is an elastic
concept - and Afghans may prove no more viable than were Vietnamese, the
Saigon regime”. It is too well known that Afghanistan never had a strong
central government; it does not have industry to provide jobs to the
unemployed. Secondly, its entire economy is based on illegal production
of poppy, which the US and NATO forces have failed to stop. To make it
worse, corruption has eaten into the vitals of the state organs. There
is a general perception in America and elsewhere that President Karzai
has failed to rein in the warlords, drug producers and drug-traffickers.
And so long as Karzai is at the helm, America would continue drawing
flak for supporting the corrupt and inept government.
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