BRINGING PEACE IN PAKISTAN & THE REGION

5/7/09

In light of the growing Taliban hold in western Pakistan, moving civilians from
the west to the east may not prove to be the best solution, because this action
communicates a clear message that Pakistan’s military actions will continue. This
will make Taliban more aggressive, prepared, and organized, and make it more
difficult for any negotiations for peace to take place. Is Taliban fighting the
people of Pakistan, or the nebulous Pakistan Government?? It could be the Pakistan
Government, recipients of U.S. financial and military help for several decades,
who are perceived as more allied to the Americans than the people of Pakistan. If
Pakistan does not allow U.S to take military action against Taliban within
Pakistan, then it should demonstrate taking needed drastic measures against
Taliban (to the U.S. and the world). It is a difficult proposition which could
jeopardize the fragile state of current Pakistan Administration.

Bombing of Taliban holds will not stop them from disrupting Pakistan where the
Taliban ideology exists in the minds of people. It is not possible, at least for
now, to separate the ideology from the political status of a person in Pakistan.
The definition of Taliban, El Qaida, and other groups must be established along
with their known domicile and agendas to show what we are facing. This will help
U.S to correctly target the financial and military aid, and to avoid handing out
leveraged aid.

Some answers may lie in the non-manipulated records of history. Pakistan was
established as a country exclusively on religion basis. People of the western
Pakistan were scarcely affected by this division of India, and they remained
almost the same as they were before. With scanty political will, enthusiasm in
political system, participating in the global social changes, etc, …..they
remained a part of Pakistan and its political system which somewhat left them
alone. Pakistan’s political system and the government did what was best for their
own survival.

American financial and military support to Pakistan Govt. will bring mixed
results, as has been seen over several years. Pakistan’s military will reluctantly
bomb its own subjects which include Taliban and the Non-Taliban, with the help of
American money and technology?? This picture doesn’t look the best. This could
push the conflict eastward where most of Pakistan’s food is grown. The label
“Pakistan government is America’s puppet” will be re-affirmed. It could give birth
to a new crisis altogether. Meantime, the continuous recruitment of suicide
bombers and militants is not going to stop any time soon, and more trouble can be
expected in Pakistan and elsewhere in the future.

British government should be requested for their Authentic Records of this region
during their occupation. Most likely, it will be found that people of western
Pakistan were just included in the deal with the help of some ‘religious slogans’
that sounded appealing to them at the time of division of India. People of western
Pakistan rarely showed interest in the Pakistan’s political power designed by the
British in 1947, and the scenario may have been the same since then. Did the
promises made to the people of western Pakistan get fulfilled, or do they honor
Pakistan government, or do they think Pakistan government has any interest in the
people of western Pakistan? Also, identifying the groups/governments who
instigated, funded, and promoted the destruction of a large number of gigantic
Budha statues in Afghanistan, which remained undisturbed and secure throughout
wars, political upheavals, and attacks over time immemorial, will contribute to
the peace solutions. Was there a group firing a gun from someone else’s shoulder?
There may be several possible models of solution to the current problems
associated with Taliban and Pakistan, but the equation will come to rest on
religion and territory, may be on economy. Possibly most people in Pakistan want
to live a peaceful and civil life, and so does the Taliban. Taliban is more
fundamentalist and deep rooted Muslim than an average Pakistani. A very large
number of people of Pakistan and Afghanistan are also deep rooted fundamentalist
Muslims, and a large number believes in the same ideology as that of Taliban. This
feeling gives them pride. How can anyone separate the two through Military’s Fire
Power? Most probably, Pakistan Government will fail through the military raids to
reach a peaceful agreement with Taliban. Deep rooted problems are here to stay for
many decades to come unless immediate measures are taken to bring much needed
peace to the region.

With the U.S help and wisdom, a lot can be accomplished to bring peace and much
needed economic growth without civilian deaths in the region by not repeating the
old and failed recipes of solutions, while prioritizing the concerns surrounding
the stockpile of nuclear weapons within a walking distance of Taliban holds, and
possibly some other groups.

Peaceful solution/s may point to carving the eastern half of Pakistan and
separating it from the western part, or creating a regional stable government who
share and sympathize with Groups like Taliban, or creating a union of a few
countries which incorporates Taliban and similar groups, etc. Taliban and similar
groups are more likely to peacefully communicate with local/regional entities and
honor the outcome of such communications. Perception and knowledge of non-regional
entities in the communication process with Taliban and other groups will not
produce any workable solutions, etc……Involvement of foreign entities in such
negotiations may be less fruitful than otherwise at this time.

It seems that a great number of people in Afghanistan and Pakistan fancy the
American lifestyle, freedom, social openness, luxuries, and financial help while
many of them do not want American physical presence and interference in their
environment. Yet, there is other large number of people who are deep rooted
fundamentalists who do not want any foreign entity, not just the Americans, to
come in and alter their long established culture which helped them survive during
all the upheavals the world has faced. Almost all people, to some degree, respect
their nation’s fundamental values and, therefore, tend to comply with the deep
rooted ones. They feel protected and safe in their cultural harbor which they
honor, and are willing to die for. Yet, they don’t seem to mind receiving
financial help from the U.S……

There is another important element which is the perception of American power to

install or overthrow any political leadership or government, and the perception of
foreign hand in almost every aspect of their country and culture. All these
elements generate tension, crime, insecurity, and hatred which are inherently
detrimental to any functional communication to bring peace. It is less likely for
Pakistan to succeed in bringing peace by fighting its own people with the same
ideology, with U.S financial and military aid, while self-maintaining a similar
perception of U.S and the western world.

Today, the United States is facing historic economic downturn, more than a handful
for the current administration, which requires unprecedented regulatory and
financial measures to bring back the economic growth. It is probably the right
time to carve out the realistic Foreign Policy and the related parameters of
responsibilities beyond which America should not get involved, at least for some
time. This will reduce the federal expenditure on unprofitable military and other
endeavors overseas. There are times to cut the losses by expediting actions within
a short and specified period of time. That time is now.
Immediate efforts should be implemented to bring peace in Pakistan by Pakistan
Government. However, if the peace does not appear in sight within a given time,
then the U.S will have to play an aggressive role to end this ongoing saga on a
short notice, that is, before Taliban is deep rooted in the eastern Pakistan.
Taliban does not have a foreign face, language, disposition, or religion; they are
the same as the rest of Pakistan’s or Afghanistan’s population. Decisive action
must be taken now regarding the security of nuclear weapons in Pakistan, because
Pakistan’s security promises may not get delivered. The question is: Who should
the U.S trust to possess nuclear weapons….Iran, Taliban, or Pakistan….and what
evidence do we have that these weapons have not already been promised to a third
party…….??

After securing the nuclear weapons, U.S should consider and reconsider formulating
a new policy for the mutually beneficial relationship with Pakistan.

This will, most likely, save innocent lives, secure the nuclear weapons, and
billions of dollars spent every month on foreign welfare, warfare and military
games. This is just one of solutions to bring uniform economic and political order
in the region in a peaceful way, because a full scale war would devastate U.S and
the world economies.

Warmest regards,
Prem Bhandari
www.PremBhandari.com/opinion.php
www.PremBhandari.com