TOP PAKISTANI DEFENSE ANALYIST GIVES AMERICA A "REALITY CHECK"
Introduction by Senior Editor Gordon Duff
America’s addiction to "political correctness" may have begun with the Pentagon and CIA. The CIA creates fantasies on demand and the Pentagon will spend every last dollar and every drop of blood we have playing them out. Almost nothing that comes out of any source in America, the Whitehouse, the Pentagon or the endless "opposition" groups powered by special interests, oil, arms and financial markets, is based on reality, national interest or cosmic laws. "Spin" and "debunk" has left no room in between for truth.
Generally, our "enemies," themselves of often a theatrical lot, our Iranian and Venezuelan friends, take pleasure in exposing our idiocy, often to deflect criticism of their own buffoonery. Even our best friends, real or supposed, Gordon Brown of Britain and France’s Sardozy, are little more than cartoon charactures. Merkel of Germany could easily be a fem villain in a Bond film. General Asif Haroon Raja is a good friend of America. This is a rarity.
His outline of the situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India will be more than a bit unfamiliar to many who typically follow these issues. I know him to be an incisive thinker and an honest and outspoken individual. In America, he would have been thrown out of the military quickly.
Had he attempted a career in defense or journalism, he would have found himself crushed for failing to lie on demand. Think about Colonel David Hackworth.
Today you can read what he has to say. You may use this to help build your understanding, not only of where America must go but of how we got where we are. Our decision is to open the door to understanding our allies, our friends and even our enemies. Without the helpful press and our friends who protect us from the truth, we are unlikely to know who our real enemies are. We have them, no question about that. Ruin such as ours requires great mischief.
Our greatest enemies have always been our own fear and ignorance. They have made us easy prey for the jackals around us. America has been put to sleep. Some day we may awaken. Those of us who have lived in America all our lives and who have traveled the world know America to be an amazing place, endless potential, with a people of great kindness and grace.
One day our enemies will awaken to see their blood flow in rivers. Those enemies are unlikely to be poor tribesmen in the remote areas of earth. Our enemies speak to us through our newspapers, TV, the internet and often, our own government. Our enemies are the ones who play on our fears and promise to keep us safe. They won’t get away with it forever.
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Dec, 6, 2009 Brig Asif Haroon Raja
Announcement of Af-Pak policy by Barack Obama last March led to shifting of centre of gravity of war on terror from Iraq to Afghanistan and resultant induction of 21000 US troops into Afghanistan from Iraqi theatre. With available extra forces the new commander Gen McChrystal, launched a well orchestrated operation in Helmand in July with a firm resolve to up stick the Taliban from this strong base and to then gradually roll down remaining strongholds in southern and eastern Afghanistan.
Logically, in line with US policy of hammer and anvil, the US military should have launched operation either in Kunar or Paktika or Paktia provinces in coordination with Swat operation and impending operation in South Waziristan (SW). Purpose of selecting poppy rich Helmand was to deprive the Taliban drug business used as a source for funding resistance war. The other reason was to push the militants towards peaceful Pashtun belt of Baluchistan and make it restive. The military and FC in Baluchistan in anticipation to the possible spill over effect quickly deployed troops along the border and effectively prevented possible inflow.
To the utter shock and dismay of US-UK forces, the rag tag Taliban put up a stiff fight in Helmand and inflicted very heavy casualties. Nuristan district as a whole was also lost to the Taliban. Mounting casualties forced Chrystal to abandon forward positions and to take up a rearward posture, concentrating in major towns and cities.
This happened at a time when Pak Army had launched its operation in South Waziristan on 17 October and direly needed sealing of Afghan border by US-NATO forces on its side. Not knowing how to stem the slide, Gen McChrystal suddenly threw a bombshell that unless he was given additional 40,000 troops he could not guarantee security of Afghanistan, which in his view was slipping away due to Taliban resurgence.
While the Republicans and a section of Democrats and Pentagon favoured further troop surge, part of Democrats opposed sending additional forces. The American public too is against war and troop surge and wants the soldiers to return home.
After deliberating upon it for considerable time due to conflicting opinions, Obama finally decided to send additional 30,000 troops to shore up the confidence of Chrystal. In his policy speech on revised Afghan policy, Pakistan remained his focus of concern. Obama reiterated what Hillary Clinton and Gordon Brown had said about presence of Al-Qaeda in Pakistan.
He added that 9/11 was planned from there and another plan to attack US homeland is in offing. He expressed his deep anxiety over the possibility of Al-Qaeda based in Pakistan taking away nukes.
Like him, all power centres in USA are not greatly worried about Afghanistan. What bothers them is Pakistan. There is neither any inquest nor regret as to why the US military and its allies failed to achieve its singular mission of disrupting, dismantling and defeating Al-Qaeda when it was in a disorganized and very weak state and entirely based in Afghanistan till December 2001.
Six intelligence agencies based in Kabul are not being quizzed as to why they have failed to spot and nab Osama bin Laden, Zawahiri, Mullah Omar and other top leaders of Al-Qaeda and Taliban for the last eight years. No questions are asked on the colossal expenditure being incurred on fruitless war on terror with zero sum results.
Instead of asking Chrystal as to how he intended recovering nearly 80% of lost space in Afghanistan and in what time frame, they are asking how he will deal with terrorist havens in Pakistan. They are not concerned about weak, corrupt, inept and unpopular Karzai led regime and pathetic state of affairs of non-Pashtun heavy Afghan national Army (ANA) and police suffering from discipline and desertion problems.
Demoralisation and lack of resolve of US-NATO troops seems to be of no consequence to US policy makers. There is no debate as to why US soldiers receiving $7500 per month salary are dispirited and depressed. Thriving drug-trade and arms selling in Afghanistan in which Karzai and his brother, Northern Alliance warlords, CIA, RAW, Mossad and US-NATO military are fully involved doesn’t raise any eyebrows in Washington. Fiasco in Helmand and abandonment of forward areas along Afghan-Pak border which in their assessment houses Al-Qaeda leadership is not being questioned. Adoption of faulty bunkered policy instead of boots on ground strategy and relying on disheartened ANA or on air power is not discussed.
The US is not troubled if Kabul regime is anti-Pakistan and pro-India and is allowing its soil to be used for cross border terrorism against Pakistan since 2002. It is not bothered if India is using all its resources to destabilise Pakistan. Patronage of Brahamdagh Bugti in Afghanistan and of Harbayar Marri and Sulaiman Daud in London pursuing separatist agenda in Baluchistan doesn’t prick their conscience.
Cultivation of Abdullah Mehsud, Baitullah Mehsud and Hakimullah Mehsud and creation of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to destabilize FATA and NWFP doesn’t bring any remorse to them. Growing anti-Americanism in Pakistan doesn’t pinch them much as long as NRO cleansed leadership is in their pocket and they can have their dictates obeyed.
However, anti-American militant groups in Pakistan and in the army and ISI do vex them. The US hypocritically calls Pakistan its strategic partner and a key ally in war on terror. It candidly admits that without Pakistan assistance the war cannot be won. Yet it mistrusts all its premier institutions and subjects them to slander.
The US doesn’t feel ashamed in pursuing double standards. On one hand the US is making concerted efforts to negotiate political settlement with Taliban to ensure safe exit of US forces, on the other it constantly reminds Pakistan not to have any truck with Afghan Taliban. In their view drone strikes on suspected targets in FATA are not enough and desire bringing Baluchistan within the purview of drones. That way it wants Pakistan to be alienated from all factions of Afghanistan.
The US is least concerned about sufferings of Pakistanis and heavy price they are paying because of their support to US policies, but is more concerned how to extract its pound of flesh. It turns a deaf ear to venomous propaganda unleashed by government controlled media and think tanks in USA against Pakistan. Nuclear armed India on the verge of implosion from within due to dozens of separatist and insurgent movements doesn’t create any ripples in Washington. While US leaders give passionate hearing to the mostly perceived grievances of India, they shut their eyes to genuine complaints made by Pakistan.
Till recent the US leaders were crying hoarse trying to convince Pakistan that TTP was the greatest threat to existence of Pakistan. All these years they had been bellowing and censuring that Pakistan Army is not tackling the militants firmly and is either linked with them or is incapable of tackling them.
They drummed up that Pakistan nukes had become vulnerable and liable to be stolen by extremists. They twisted Pakistan’s arm and pressed it to go full hog against the militants who were vying to steal nukes and take over power.
What they actually had desired was to compel Pakistan to commit maximum forces in the quagmires of restive regions and to get bogged down irretrievably. When Pakistan Army uprooted the main bastions of militants and disarrayed TTP thereby giving a deathblow to the insidious plan chalked out by our adversaries, they have now taken up a new stance and are projecting Al-Qaeda as the chief threat to Pakistan, eying its nukes.
The TTP funded, trained and equipped by gang of five in Kabul doesn’t interest them in the current time frame. Adm. Mike Mullen squirmed that Al-Qaeda’s pursuit of nukes and interest in Pakistan are extraordinarily dangerous. Robert Menendez moaned that Pakistan is the main problem. He added, "Pakistan doesn’t want strategic relationship but want money and equipment".
What he implied was that Pakistan has been receiving US aid without giving anything in return. It was in this context that Obama said that the days of blank cheques are over.They are now cribbing that whereas Pakistan Army has chased Pakistani Taliban vigorously; it has failed to go after Afghan Taliban and their supporters including Al-Qaeda. India and UK have joined USA to collectively press Pakistan to do more.
The writer is a Memeber Board of Advisors, Opinion Maker. He is a defence and security analyst.
Gordon Duff posted articles on VT from 2008 to 2022. He is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War. A disabled veteran, he worked on veterans and POW issues for decades.
Gordon is an accredited diplomat and is generally accepted as one of the top global intelligence specialists. He manages the world’s largest private intelligence organization and regularly consults with governments challenged by security issues.
Duff has traveled extensively, is published around the world, and is a regular guest on TV and radio in more than “several” countries. He is also a trained chef, wine enthusiast, avid motorcyclist, and gunsmith specializing in historical weapons and restoration. Business experience and interests are in energy and defense technology.
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