With the admission of Barak Obama as the new US President events are beginning to move extremely quickly in the region surrounding Pakistan and Afghanistan. Two Muslim countries strategically located next to energy rich Central Asia.
Obama outlined in his election campaign that he considers Pakistan to be the main source of terror rather than Afghanistan and will send troops across the border into Pakistan if the government fails to act. It was actually on the eve of his inauguration that the US launched a drone attack into Pakistan killing many innocent civilians, in effect showing the Pakistani establishment that Obama means what he says. What we are witnessing is a continuation of Bush’s policies.
The US after much bloodshed and failure in Iraq is finding Afghanistan’s occupation increasingly difficult. The resistance movement in Afghanistan is forcing the US to enter into negotiations and tradeoffs with countries considered hostile, from Iran to Russia. The supply routes are looking increasingly fragile and cracks are appearing in NATO where France and Germany have already refused to send further troops to Afghanistan.
The Importance of this region can be illustrated from the fact that countries as far as Latvia have been pulled into this great game to secure supplies to NATO and US forces occupying Afghanistan. Up to 700 containers per week could be shipped and unloaded at Latvian ports, moving by rail to Afghanistan.
U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke on a recent visit to the region described the situation as, “tougher than Iraq.” Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the American Joint Chiefs of Staff said, “The situation there grows more perilous every day.” British foreign secretary David Miliband last week spoke of a “stalemate” – something senior generals and security officials have known for some time.
The Taliban now control both southern and eastern Afghanistan and are making daring attacks into the heart of Kabul, including the recent attacks on the justice ministry. The US has given authorisation to NATO in making individual treaties to ship supplies via Russian and Iranian territories.
The Pakistani government has failed yet again to take the initiative and take advantage of the US’s weak position – battered by a failing economy and two bloody wars. It is important to note that 85-95% (300-500 trucks daily) of supplies to Afghanistan come from Pakistan via Port Qasim in Karachi. The Zardari government like Musharraf is strengthening the US position by participating in this War on Islam and betraying the public who in poll after polls have shown their hatred for US and its policies in the region. Recent revelations made by the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Senator Dianne Feinstein that drones “are flown out of a Pakistani base” shows the subservience of Zardari’s government to the US.
The US knows very well that they cannot win without the support from the corrupt Pakistani government. Hence they are supporting the government of Zardari just like they supported Musharraf before him. The US is using the Pakistani army as mercenaries to kill their own people.
Defence secretary Robert Gates has said the aim is not to build a “central Asian Valhalla.” Creating a liberal, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan has been, at the very least, postponed. Steve Cohen, at the Brookings Institution policy research centre, Washington also said, “We have certainly pulled back from the aims of a nice, happy, Scandinavian-style democracy.”
The above statements clearly show the intentions of the US government. If this situation continues the US who is in a strategic alliance with India may actually break Pakistan to secure their objectives in the region.
The only way to establish peace and stability in the region is via the Khilafah. This will unite all the provinces of Pakistan and remove enmity from the hearts of the people. It will allow Pakistan to unite with Afghanistan and other Muslim countries and remove colonial lines i.e. drawn by Sir Mortimer Durand or Sir Cyril Radcliffe. The Muslims of Pakistan are asking where is the Mohammed bin Qasim of today.