Barely enough time has elapsed since the recent election for the name plaques in government offices to have been changed and the new Pakistani government is already facing a major crisis courtesy of the United States.
Since the beginning of September, the U.S. has launched a number of military operations into Pakistani territory, including an unprecedented incursion of foot soldiers, without the consent of the Pakistani government. The majority of the missions have been missile attacks fired from U.S. drone planes. These have caused a great deal of controversy as there reportedly have been a number of civilians killed. The land operation, too, has elevated tensions. Apparently, the American troops were in the process of crossing the border when they were repelled by Pakistani military personnel firing their weapons into the air. Since then, Pakistani officials have ordered soldiers to fire on Americans if they try to cross the border.
The Americans have undertaken these tactics in an attempt to combat Taliban fighters operating in Afghanistan from across the Pakistani border, as they have been dissatisfied with the Pakistani military’s own efforts to eliminate the threat. Obviously, these mini-invasions, taking place inside a sovereign nation, are difficult to defend as legitimate– particularly given U.S. claims to be promoting democracy around the world. It is also hard to understand why the U.S. has chosen to conduct these operations within the same time period that Asif Zardari– the husband of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto– has become the first democratically elected president in recent Pakistani history. Given this situation, it makes no sense that the U.S. wouldn’t apply to the new government to deal with the problem before undertaking unilateral action.
Instead, their actions have forced Pakistani authorities into a situation where it will be hard to co-operate with the Americans. There was a great deal of anger and criticism of Pakistan’s role in the war on terror and involvement with American policy expressed by the Pakistani population before the U.S. began disregarding its ally’s territorial integrity. Now, there will clearly be more. There is simply no way that the Pakistani government could accede to this type of operation without incurring a virtual revolt. The American action has, then, severely stunted any hope for the two nations co-operating to resolve the issue.
In addition, the American incursions could easily destabilize the country. Coming so rapidly after the end of Pervez Musharraf’s nine-year reign and given the historic instability of Pakistan’s democratic structure, there is no telling what sort of danger the hostile actions of an already largely reviled ally may produce.
In terms of the American objective, it is not clear that this was the right action to take. By debasing the sovereignty of a predominantly Islamic nation–a democratic one at that– the U.S. operations are likely to result in more hatred being directed towards the world’s top-dog. This may lead to the recruitment of more and future terrorists, clearly not what the U.S. desires. There is already fear that the U.S. raids will cause the tribes people of the border area to join the Taliban in their struggle, particularly after the death of civilians.
This must all be considered in light of the fact that Pakistan is one of only a few nations with declared nuclear weapons and shares one of the most volatile borders in the world with India. There is almost nowhere in the world where an internal destabilization or rise in extremism could be more costly.
Forty years ago, the U.S. was escalating its involvement in another foreign war. At the time, it was denied that operations were being carried out in Cambodia against Vietnamese communists. Yet they were and shortly after the end of the Vietnam War, Cambodia collapsed into one of the most depraved genocides ever recorded. Though the raids into Pakistan likely won’t result in the same sort of damnation as befell Cambodia, the lesson from that earlier experience should not be ignored. Beyond being reprehensible as the violation of a democratic state’s sovereignty, current American military operations in Pakistan have the potential for real horror.