"Pakistan - Wherefore Art Thou?"

Sydney M. Williams

 Thought of the Day

“Pakistan – Wherefore Art Thou?”

May 9, 2011

When Juliet asks the question of Romeo, she is not asking, where is he? That she knows. He is outside, below her balcony. She is asking, where does he stand in the feud between their families? Will he abandon the name Montague? To whom does he owe allegiance? The same question is being asked of Pakistan. Are they our ally in the war against Islamic terrorism? As the world’s largest Muslim country with nuclear weapons, can we afford not to keep them within our sphere of influence?

The question about Pakistan and our future relationship, in the short term, may hinge on determining who, if anyone, within the Pakistan government or their Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), knew that Osama bin Laden was housed in a million dollar compound in Abbottabad, two miles from the Pakistan Military Academy, one of the country’s elite military schools. The answer seems obviously, yes, someone knew – even President Obama, on 60 Minutes yesterday, admitted as much.

Our long term relationship with Pakistan should supersede temporary setbacks. The President’s decision to keep the Pakistanis out of the loop was based on sound intelligence. Our future relations with Pakistan have been sublimated by the inane debate as to whether water boarding yielded some element of the intelligence that led to the discovery of bin Laden. Leon Panetta, CIA Chief, admitted it was a critical part of the mosaic. If one wants to understand torture, read Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken, which describes the Japanese treatment of prisoners of war during World War II; or, read what Islamic jihadists do to those they consider infidels – anyone who disagrees with them. What is important is that enough information was received so that the President was able to give a thumbs-up to the Navy SEAL mission that resulted in bin Laden’s death. The relationship has been given second seat to the endless and futile argument as to whether the photo of a shot bin Laden should be disseminated to disprove conspiracy theories. Does anyone really believe the bad guy is not dead? The Bush administration’s decision to release the photos of Saddam Hussein’s sons, Uday and Qusay, after they were killed in 2003 was based on the fact that they had terrorized the people of Iraq, so their people wanted confirmation they were actually dead. In this case, according to an IBD/TIPP poll, 89% of Americans believe bin Laden is dead.

The biggest reason not to show the photo of a shot bin Laden, in my opinion, is because it is in poor taste. Matthew Brady’s photos of dead union soldiers during the Civil War are evocative, as are those taken during World War II by Margaret Bourke-White. But there is no art in a digital photo of an aging, dead terrorist shot in the eye.

Pakistan is an ancient civilization embodied in a relatively young country. Artifacts found in the Indus Valley speak to a civilization that dates back 4000 years, yet the people only received their independence from the British Empire in 1947. With 170 million people, it is the world’s sixth most populous country and, behind Indonesia, the worlds second largest Muslim country. It is also one of the world’s poorest countries, with a median annual income of about $1000.00. Freedom has not come easily. Coup d’états; military rule; wars, both civil and external, and assassinations have marked their government during the past sixty-four years. Compounding the complexity, Pakistan has had nuclear weapons since 1972.

All countries manage foreign relations in their self-interest. The primary duty of the American President is to ensure the safety of its people at home and abroad. Foreign relations also serve to protect the trading interests of its people and businesses – keeping the seas free and open. We should do what we can to prevent conflict anywhere that affects our interests, especially when nuclear weapons are present, as they are in Pakistan.

While it is not our responsibility to impose our way of life on others, we cannot leave a vacuum if we cause political change, as we did in Afghanistan and Iraq and as we would like to see done in Libya. But we also cannot ignore the Arab Spring, which came as a surprise to many, and which has been a spontaneous eruption of the desire for freedom over autocracy. History shows that democracies rarely start wars, so it is in our interests to encourage advocates for democracy.

Pakistan has been a strategic ally against Islamic terrorism. The 1500 mile border with Afghanistan is often remote and mountainous and has served as a hiding place to Taliban and al Qaeda forces who would like to disrupt the fragile (but nuclear-empowered) government of Pakistan. Additionally, the disputed region of Kashmir has been a cause of tension between India, Pakistan and China – all nuclear powers. America and the world have an interest in a peaceful resolution. It is in our interest to prevent the government of Pakistan from falling into the hands of terrorists.

In reassessing our relationship with Pakistan, it should be remembered that Pakistani security forces have lost more than 3000, while killing or capturing over 400 al Qaeda members since 2001. Nevertheless, following the success of Navy SEAL team six, there is information the U.S. would like: Who within Pakistan has been aiding al Qaeda? Can bin Laden’s three wives, now in Pakistani custody, provide additional intelligence? And American authorities would like returned the tail section of the helicopter downed at the time of the mission.

In the final conclusion, it is in both countries interest to maintain civil relationships and I suspect they will. Pakistan is key to any withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan. Being in possession of nuclear weapons, a stable Pakistani government is critical to the region. As Ahmed Rashid wrote in The New York Review of Books: “The ideology of global jihad that bin Laden espoused will not quietly disappear, for it has taken root in too many Muslim fringe groups.” Militarily and economically Pakistan depends on continued U.S. aid, and the U.S. is the country’s largest export market. The discovery that Osama bin Laden was within 40 miles of Islamabad was an embarrassment to Mr. Asif Ali Zardari’s government, and there are heads that should roll, but the relationship between our two countries should withstand this test. It is important that we do.