We must not forget that Operation Zarb-e-Azab is continuation of the War on Terror. It is the war that was initiated by the United States after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. General Musharraf took a policy decision of entering the US War on Terror. The same Musharraf is now facing a case of high treason in Pakistani courtrooms. The facts on the ground which are now clearer contradict the then-created media smoke screen by the traitor Musharraf, who bathed his hands in the blood of Muslim women and children in the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) operation.
Musharraf portrayed in front of the people of Pakistan in general, and soldiers of Pakistan army specifically, that the Maulana of Lal Masjid was unwilling to accept the peace deal and forced violence upon the population of Islamabad. The failed peace negotiations were blamed on the people inside Lal Masjid and an all-out operation was sanctioned which enjoyed support from some liberal sections of civil society, media, analysts, and establishment. Seven years after the operation, the revealed facts places the blame on Musharraf and rightly so. “From the statements, it is clear that volunteer witnesses and court witnesses described the deaths as avoidable….They held Pervez Musharraf, then occupying the public position of president, as the person responsible for the incident,” stated the Red Mosque Commission [1].
A little bit of background is important because this policy of misleading public opinion was to be repeated as a policy for the next decade by the successors of Musharraf in order to fulfill US policy. It has been a cycle of violence blamed on Islamist radicals, so-called peace negotiations, failure in peace negotiations blamed on terrorists; a military operation resulting in further involvement of Pak army in a quagmire of its own making.
Peace has never been the objective of any operations in War on Terror. Time and again, both traitors in Pakistan’s military leadership and the US have proved their unwillingness for peace or stability in the tribal regions. In fact both have been complicit in maintaining the conflict and using peace negotiations as a tool to manipulate public opinion in favor of war on terror and for implementation of US AF-Pak policy in South Asia.
The next major operation was launched in 2009, named Rah-e-Ra’ast in Swat. The pretext of operation was again a so-called peace deal brokered by Sufi Muhammad of Swat and the Pakistan Government. In the immediate aftermath of the peace deal, staged videos of a girl being flogged and the beheading of soldiers, paved the way for another operation. The facts on the ground prove that traitors in the military and political leadership were never willing for peace nor did they honor the peace deal. The evidence being the statement of then Foreign Minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in a joint press conference with US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, in March 2010. “(She said) You signed the Swat deal? Capitulation. Surrender.” I said, “Hold on, hold on. That’s a tactic. Wait. Wait till you see the results. And we have demonstrated the results” [2].
A similar fate met many peace deals. Nek Muhammad, Wazir of South Waziristan, signed the Shakai Peace Pact in April 2004 but was killed in a Predator drone strike in June ’04 [3]. Baitullah Mehsud of South Waziristan signed a peace accord in February 2008. It was reported that he authorized the circulation of a pamphlet that ordered his followers not to undertake any attacks inside Pakistan due to ongoing peace talks. He too was killed in a drone strike in August 2009 [4]. Another US drone strike in May ’13 killed the second in command of TTP, Wali-ur Rehman, widely known in the Pakistani community as “a pro- peace figure in Taliban”. The PTI politician Imran Khan in a tweet after the drone strike said, “The drone attack that killed pro-peace Wali-ur-rehman, led to our soldiers being killed/injured in revenge attacks! This is totally unacceptable” [5]. Soon afterwards followed the drone strike that killed the commander of TTP Hakimullah Mehsud in November 13 while the peace negotiations were in progress [6]. In the same month, the spokesman of Haqqani network (known to be focused on attacks inside Afghanistan), Naseer Uddin Haqqani, son of Jalal Uddin Haqqani, was killed in Islamabad [7].
Anyone thinking Zarb-e-Azab was any different and will achieve somewhat different results is going against history and facts. The very first major air strike after the formal announcement of Zarb-e-Azab targeted Datta Khel District, known to be the home town of the famous Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur, and killed 140 suspected militants according to government claims [8]. Hafiz Gul Bahadur had entered into a peace accord with the Pakistan Army in 2006 and since then had been known to have honored the peace deal and focused his operations against NATO forces inside Afghanistan. Zarb-e-Azab was formally announced on 15th June 2014 and until 23rd June Hafiz Gul Bahadur stuck to the peace deal, while the strikes on Datta Khel, Miram Shah, Mir Ali and Shawal Valley resulted in mass exodus of tribesmen [9]. The Pakistani military establishment sanctioned the so-called peace negotiations once again in a decade long US sponsored War on Terror, to be conducted by the Raheel-Nawaz regime in order to create a smoke screen, while the preparation of an operation at the behest of US was well in progress since January 2014 [10].
How can the breakdown of peace negotiations be blamed upon the Taliban when six months earlier, preparations for an all-out operation in North Waziristan were well under way? This is no different to the case in the operations of Swat, South Waziristan and others. The non-seriousness of effort made to reach a peace agreement was evident from the powerless negotiating team formed by the government, which did not include any major political party or for that matter any member of armed forces. The peace process was supposedly run by the Government in consultation with the opposition political parties but the announcement of the operation was sudden, spontaneous and made through the ISPR, not the Information Minister. The major opposition forces including the PPP and the PTI (the latter of which holds the government, of KPK Province, adjacent to the tribal areas) publically stated that they had no idea an operation was going to happen. Later on all political parties had to declare public support for the operation, as the real decision makers had launched the offensive [11]. The official narrative constructed to create favorable public opinion for the Operation Zarb-e-Azab was the deadly attack on Karachi airport on June 8th 2014. Before the unfortunate incident came to its end, the blame had been put on Waziristan. Official statements were made that the deadly attack on Karachi was orchestrated by Uzbek fighters and Pakistani Taliban in North Waziristan [12].
Just thirty days earlier, on May 7th 2014, Joel Eugene Cox, confirmed by the US State Department as an FBI agent, was arrested on Sunday at the airport in the southern city of Karachi. “Apart from 15 bullets of 9mm calibre along with a magazine, we have also found three knives, spy cameras and devices and other gadgets which included a computer,” stated the SSP of Malir Cantt [13]. Why did the security agencies in Pakistan not even investigate the possible link between the foreign agency operative and the Karachi Airport attack? Yet, on the other hand, the conviction of Waziristan and their punishment in months-long deadly air strikes, required no proof. This was not the only incident left unattended and unnoticed by security agencies of Pakistan. In July 18, 2014, another US security trainer was arrested at Islamabad Airport but released immediately [14]. It is worth remembering that earlier in January 27, 2011, Raymond Allen Davis, a confirmed private military contractor was released after been arrested for killing two people in Lahore. It is an open secret what Raymond Davis was doing in Pakistan. And the role of ISI head in brokering his release indicated the commitment to US policy by traitors in Pakistan’s military leadership.
The operation in North Waziristan is not Pakistan’s war, it is America’s. It was a long-standing demand of US. The pressure for the operation was at its peak when the US Congress linked the release of outstanding 1.2 billion dollars military aid to Pakistan army with North Waziristan Operation. The US Secretary can only issue a waiver by certifying that “Pakistan has undertaken military operations in North Waziristan that have significantly disrupted the safe haven and freedom of movement of the Haqqani Network.” [15]. Pakistani cricketer turned politician, Imran Khan termed New Congress Legislation as “US ‘bribing government’ for North Waziristan operation” [16]. The North Waziristan operation was first publicized in the media on January 24th, 2014 announcing that NWA operation is likely to start in March [17]. Following the announcement and public commitment, the US released $352 million under CSF on February 12th, 2014 [18]. The launch of Zarb-e-Azab was followed by an approval of $960 million outstanding Coalition Support Fund, as assistance to the Pakistani army for fiscal year 2015 [19]. If the Operation Zarb-e-Azab is the operation through the Sword of Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, then why are American dollars as Coalition Support Fund being used to fund this war?
North Waziristan operation is part of the American war in Afghanistan. Moreover, asides from America itself, the direct beneficiary is America’s new found ally, the Modi government in India. With the pro-US Raheel-Nawaz regime in power in Pakistan, Operation Zarb-e-Azab was planned in January 2014, and was expected to start in March-April 2014. However, it was delayed until Indian elections concluded on 16th May 2014 in which a pro-US BJP won elections in India. Just a week later on 21st May 2014, Pakistani jet fighter planes bombed NWA and claimed to have killed 60 terrorists. Soon, the heavy deployment of the Army began in North Waziristan, while jets continued to pound the areas of Dattakhel, Miram Shah, Mir Ali and Khyber Agency. By June 2nd, 2014, Pakistan had moved an estimated 1/3rd of its army deployment from the Indian border to the western border [20]. Such movement brought great relief to the Indian armed forces.
Such movement is by design. It is the result of the change of focus from the enemy, India, to America’s enemy in the tribal regions. In January 2013, General Kayani announced the strategic doctrine of the army in the famous Army Green Book. Accordingly, the military focus has been modified, and internal threats are now the greatest threat to the security of the country and not India. Consequently, Pakistan transferred the center of its attention from the borders of India to the northern areas of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. However, this step from Pakistan was not met by a similar step from India, rather it continued to see Pakistan as a major threat to it, and was reluctant to move its troops completely away from the border with Pakistan. However, with the pro-US Modi empowered in India, the stage was set to guarantee that Pakistan is no longer a threat to Indian national security. The guarantee came as perfectly timed statements and actions from Pak Army top brass:
Guarantee 1: Strategic shift from eastern front to the western front through redeployment of major force from Indian to Afghan border
Guarantee 2: Public disapproval of ‘strategic depth’ and public bashing of those who were so-called advocates of strategic depth in Afghanistan including the predecessor of Raheel Shareef, Gen Ashfaq Pervaiz Kiyani. The strategic disengagement will also allow India all the more reasons to invest in Afghanistan
Guarantee 3: Geo-economic commitment in the form of Central Trade Corridor by Raheel Shareef himself, to provide economic relief to India.
Thus, to make way for India, Pakistan is incurring losses as part of the US plan. An estimated 80,000 troops are participating in the North Waziristan Operation in addition to 40,000 already deployed in South Waziristan [21]. The direct loss to Pakistan economy is $ 100 billion furthering the gap between India and Pakistan [22]. “While India is spending massively on army upgrade programs, we are stretched out and cannot even buy any major gadgets and weapons. We are fighting a war despite this lack of funds,” said AVM Shehzad Chaudhry [23]. Numerous big-ticket programs have either been slowed down, such as the JF-17 fighter jet manufacturing program, or scrapped entirely, (such as the planned acquisition of new submarines from Germany) [24]. The guarantees from traitors in the military leadership of Pakistan will directly help the US build rapport with India by arguing that the US has delivered on its promises and the traditional threat from Pakistan is no more. The Pakistan Army not only posed a direct threat to Indian interests in the region, but also used its proxies, the Jihadi groups, to fill any gap in conventional military strengths of Pakistan and India. But now General Raheel Shareef, whilst standing at the graves of the martyrs of Gyari sector, committed to the Indians that he will go after the entire spectrum of Jihadi threat. This is certainly a strong message as any statement at Siachin sector is taken as an address to the Indians.
The US and its stooges in Pakistan’s military leadership now speak with one voice regarding abandoning Pakistan’s strategic depth in Afghanistan which will naturally make way for India. “Pakistan’s concept of strategic depth is dead”, “Pakistan’s policy of seeking strategic depth in Afghanistan has been proven wrong and the country now needs to focus all its strength on dealing with the militants,” said the former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, speaking to an Indian channel, NDTV June 21 2014 [25]. “We want a strategic depth in Afghanistan but do not want to control it”, and “a peaceful and friendly Afghanistan can provide Pakistan a strategic depth”, said General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kiyani [26]. On June 28th, 2014. Gen. Sharif was visiting the army post on the Siachin Glacier where he also laid a wreath at the Shuhada Monument at Gayari and paid tribute to valiant officers and soldiers who laid their lives in defense of the country as he said, “Army prepared to fight against entire spectrum of threat” [27]. Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa, characterized the North Waziristan operation as the ‘beginning of the end of terrorism in Pakistan’. He further added that the military would not discriminate between the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ Taliban and that ‘for military, there is no discrimination among different Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) groups or the Haqqani Network… Army will crush them all.’ [28] On May 28th 2014 Raheel Shareef particularly mentioned the construction of Central Trade Corridor, a 714-kilometre road network, linking Pakistan’s Indus Highway and Waziristan agencies with the Afghan Ring Road [29].
These guarantees irrespective of operational details in Zarb-e-Azab provide Modi all the more reason to initiate the US policy of containment of China. An article published by the BBC Arabic on 19th May 2014 under the title “Viewpoints: How will Modi affect US-India relations?” As quoted in the article under the title “Doing business with Mr. Modi” by Lisa Curtis, Heritage Foundation it was stated: “New Delhi and Washington share strategic objectives, whether it involves fighting terrorism, maintaining open seaways, or hedging against China’s rise. Specifically the BJP interest in adopting a more assertive hedging policy regarding China will give US officials a chance to engage closely with them”. US President Barack Obama urged Modi to visit the United States when he telephoned him to congratulate him on his victory; according to a statement issued by the White House. Obama said he looks forward to working closely with Modi to “fulfill the extraordinary promise of the US-India strategic partnership”. Modi is set to meet Obama in September this year.
Thus, the North Waziristan operations benefit the US-India nexus, at great cost to Pakistan. Yet, the Raheel-Nawaz regime works to grant the Hindu mushrikeen a status which they don’t deserve. The regime works for Hindu political dominance over us, even though the Ummah today exceeds the Hindu mushrikeen in numbers and capability and for centuries was the leading world power. The regime works for Hindu economic dominance, even though the Ummah today possesses immense material resources and for centuries was the economic marvel of the world. And the regime works for Hindu military dominance, even though the Ummah today possesses millions of soldiers, that dwarf the Hindu military in numbers and bravery, and for centuries won war after war, even when facing overwhelming numbers. Rather than calling for us to rise again as a strong powerful Ummah, under a single Islamic Khilafah state, the Raheel-Nawaz regime invites us to defeatism and works for our ruin under Kufr dominance. Our state of affairs will only improve when we stand as one people, as one state, under one ruler who implements the Deen of Islam and carries Islam to the rest of humankind. The need of the time is for the Ummah to re-establish the Khilafah State so that the Muslims can return as a beacon for all of humankind, as they were for centuries, even though the Hindu mushrikeen may detest it. Allah (ta’ala) revealed,
هُوَ الَّذِي أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُ بِالْهُدَى وَدِينِ الْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْمُشْرِكُونَ
“He is the One who sent His Messenger with the Guidance and the Deen of Truth to dominate over all other ways of life, even though the mushrikeen may detest it”
(Surah At-Tawba 9:33)
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Khalid Salahudin
References
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