Author: Kaushik Kapisthalam
Publication: FrontPageMagazine.com
Date: December 15, 2003
URL: http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=11298
In his first State of the Union
Address after the September 11 attacks, President Bush said "Our second
goal is to prevent regimes that sponsor terror from threatening America
or our friends and allies with weapons of mass destruction." The President
had Saddam Hussein's Iraq foremost in his mind when he uttered those words.
Saddam is gone now and the world is still looking for his WMD cache. There
is another regime, however, that is thriving despite having nuclear weapons
and strong links to terrorists. It is the regime of Gen. Pervez Musharraf
of Pakistan.
Pakistan is, on the "official record,"
a US ally in the War on Terror. Under Gen.Musharraf, Pakistani authorities
have arrested and handed over hundreds of Al Qaeda terrorists and the General
himself has appeared intent to transform his country into a moderate, West-friendly
Islamic democracy.
But there is also another Pakistan.
A U-Turn?
It would be worthwhile to revisit
the speech Pakistani strongman Pervez Musharraf gave after the 9-11 atrocities
explaining his alignment with the US. What many Americans may not know
is that Musharraf gave two speeches to his countrymen. Faced with a "with
us or against us" ultimatum from America, Musharraf gave a speech in English,
which only the rich Anglophone Pakistani elite understood, blandly stating
that Pakistan is aligning itself with America in the war on terror. A few
days later, on September 19, 2001, Musharraf made another speech, this
time in Urdu, Pakistan's national language, not meant for Western ears.
In that speech, Musharraf likened
his decision to support America with Prophet Mohammed's temporary alliance
with his enemies, the Jews, called the Treaty of Hudaybiya. He reminded
his jihad loving countrymen that the Prophet made a calculated decision
to side with the Jews, so that he can ward off the infidels. Later on,
the Prophet went back on the alliance and was able to defeat the Jews.
Musharraf's message was unmistakable.
Pakistan's decision to align with America, which many Pakistanis believe
is "controlled" by Jews, was just to ward off a threat from the "infidels",
which was a reference to India, the Hindu majority neighbor of Pakistan.
While most Pakistanis would find it hard to understand the intricacies
of global politics, they know their Quran well and they knew that Musharraf
just promised them that Pakistan's support for jihad would resume after
the immediate crisis with America was averted. Musharraf also reminded
his countrymen that he had done everything he can for the Taliban and would
strive to ensure that they were not defeated.
More than two years after Musharraf's
two speeches, it is quite clear that whatever Musharraf thought of the
promises he made in his English language speech, he definitely meant to
live up to the vows he made in his Urdu one.
Taliban Resurgence
Even amidst the chaotic Iraq situation,
there has been a steady stream of reports indicating rising US and allied
casualties in Afghanistan. Taliban fighters are now reported to be in control
of certain districts in Southern Afghanistan and have been able to harass
Afghan and US forces almost at will. Everyone, including US officials,
Afghan leaders and others have squarely laid the blame for the Taliban
resurgence on Pakistan.
The fact is that to date, not a
single one of the 500 or so people arrested and handed over by Pakistani
authorities to the US is a Taliban leader. In late 2001, Pakistan evacuated
hundreds of top Taliban and Al Qaida leaders from the Afghan city of Kunduz,
in an apparent deal made with the State Department. US officials later
admitted that Pakistanis used that opportunity to whisk away top Taliban
leaders.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai gave
Pakistani strongman Pervez Musharraf a list of top Taliban leaders comfortably
ensconced in Pakistan. Gen.Musharraf has refused to arrest them. Western
journalists have been easily able to meet top Taliban leaders in big Pakistani
cities. Despite this Pakistani authorities brazenly deny that the Taliban
leaders are in their country.
Pakistani border guards and troops,
instead of stopping the Taliban, have consistently prevented the US troops
from attacking the Taliban and have gone as far as attacking US troops.
Pakistani madrassa graduates have provided an unlimited number of foot
soldiers for cross border attacks on US troops. Despite this, Pakistani
authorities have closed down not one madrassa.
Clearly, Musharraf has lived up
to the promise he made to his countrymen that he will not let the Taliban
be harmed. Except for the deaths of the thousands of easily replaced foot
soldiers, Musharraf has allowed the Taliban leadership to lie low and strike
back when the US is distracted with Iraq. The much-touted Pakistani 180
on the support to the Taliban, has turned out to be a 360.
Nuclear Commodity Trading?
One of the biggest crises in the
post 9-11 world is the current tense nuclear standoff with North Korea.
This standoff came to a head when US intelligence discovered that the North
Koreans were secretly developing a Uranium based nuclear weapons program
with technology supplied by Pakistan. In fact, US intelligence had tracked
a Pakistani nuclear shipment to the Koreans on a C- 130 cargo plane that
Pakistan received from the US. Egregiously, these transfers occurred as
late as the summer of 2002, well after Pakistan became an official US "ally".
Nuclear industry journals have given specifics on Pakistani transfer high-speed
centrifuge machines, blueprints for the production of nuclear weapons and
even "cold test" results to North Korea. A prominent North Korean defector
has even claimed that one of the bombs Pakistan tested in 1998 was for
North Korea. More recently, as Iran's nuclear program received spotlight,
credible reports indicated that Iran's Uranium enrichment technology originated
from Pakistan.
To complete its proliferation to
the Axis-of-Evil, it is worth mentioning that United Nations inspectors
dismantling the Iraqi nuclear program after Operation Desert Storm found
evidence Pakistan provided the design for Iraq's nuclear bomb project.
Iraqi documents also stated that Dr. A.Q. Khan, the "father" of Pakistan's
bomb had offered to help Iraq in its quest for the bomb. Just days ago,
Pakistan was reported to have signed a secret nukes- for-oil deal with
Saudi Arabia, another militant hotbed. In off the record press conversations,
Administration officials try to give gloss over the direct involvement
of Pakistani strongman Gen. Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan' proliferation
acts and try to pass the blame to "rogue" individuals, such as Dr. A.Q.
Khan. But that leads to more questions.
If individuals in Pakistan can use
state resources like transport aircrafts to transfer nuclear material to
other states, then is it not likely that they could transfer, say a small
nuclear warhead, to terrorist groups? Besides, what happened to the "tight
grip" that Pakistan's military is supposed to have on the nukes, when proscribed
material somehow found their way to the Axis-of-Evil charter members? Whether
Musharraf sanctioned the proliferation or not, the fact that groups in
Pakistan were crazy enough to transfer nukes to other rogue nations after
the "with us or against us" position of the US was made clear only highlights
the severe threat posed by Pakistan.
The threat of loose Pakistani nukes
is worrying in and of itself, but when combined with the preponderance
of suicidal terrorists in the same circles, the threat acquires a greater
imminence and severity. In late 2001, two top Pakistani nuclear scientists
were identified by the US as having had contact with Osama Bin Laden. Many
reports indicate that when the US sought to interview the scientists and
two other nuclear experts with access to the most secret of the Pakistani
nuclear facilities, Pakistan shipped them off to Myanmar, far out of American
reach. Just prior to 9-11, one of the missing scientists, Sultan Bashiruddin,
along with the "father" of Pakistan's bomb, Dr. A.Q. Khan attended the
annual conclave of an Al Qaida linked terrorist group called Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Along with other attendees (including retired Pakistan Army Generals) they
watched as speaker after speaker made calls for the destruction of India,
Israel and the US.
The Lashkar-e-Taiba connection is
ominous. Although officially a group fighting to help Pakistan annex Indian
Kashmir, the Lashkar is a pan-Islamist terrorist group. It was found to
be sheltering Abu Zubeida, a top Al Qaida leader, in its Pakistan safe
house. Recently convicted Virginia Jihad terrorists, including American
citizens, belonged to the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Their indictment says
that they trained in Lashkar-e-Taiba training camps in Pakistan. Just recently,
the French terrorist arrested in Australia, Willie Brigitte was found to
be a member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Australian police have uncovered pictures
of a nuclear reactor and a list of bomb-making components in his apartment.
Clearly, there is very obvious evidence
of a direct link between Pakistan's nuclear weapons and pan-Islamist terrorist
groups whose tentacles reach as far as America and Australia.
Musharraf's Crackdown - Real or
Smoke and Mirrors?
Supporters of Pakistan might say
that after 9-11 and Gen.Musharraf has "cracked down" on such terrorist
groups. But has he really? In January 2002, under heavy American pressure,
Musharraf banned the Lashkar-e-Taiba and a few other groups. But, immediately,
these groups were up and running under new names. The terrorist leaders
were never prosecuted. Instead, they were put up in government safe houses
and were even paid a fat stipend for their troubles. After the international
pressure died down, they were quietly released. The Wall Street Journal
reported that the Lashkar-e-Taiba has been openly printing jihad pamphlets
and magazines, giving its mailing address as a building within stone's
throw of the police headquarters in the Pakistani city of Lahore. The terrorist
group even managed to publish its material online. The Wall Street Journal
says about Lashkar's website:
Other provocative offerings in recent
days include downloadable, jihad- themed audio files, and downloadable
computer wallpapers. One collage depicts "evil" with a broken cross, a
Star of David, a broken chakra (an Indian emblem), Israeli and Indian flags,
the White House, and the Eiffel Tower. An enormous sword exhorts young
men to offer themselves up onto the battleground of truth and falsehood.
Another vivid image depicts two red raised fists, shackled and chained
-- producing a shape nearly identical to the map of undivided Kashmir --
and captioned "Mix your blood with ours."
Pakistani media also reported that
the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists have even begun openly collecting funds
with no interference from the government. The terrorist leader of the Lashkar
has been addressing crowded rallies calling for Jihad on America. Another
"banned" terrorist group, Jaish-e-Mohammed, is also back with a bang. The
Jaish has owned up to the murder of journalist Daniel Pearl as well as
scores of Church bombings in Pakistan. Despite this, the Pakistani authorities
have not only released the terrorist leader of Jaish, but also allowed
him to openly collect funds for terrorism.
Just last week, after an unusually
stern warning by the US Ambassador to Pakistan, Musharraf banned some of
the renamed terrorist groups. But he still would not arrest or prosecute
the terrorist leaders. Most egregiously, he still would not ban the re-named
Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was singled out by Ambassador Nancy Powell. Contrast
this with Musharraf's tough action against his political opponents. One
leader has been in prison for seven years without trial. Another has just
been arrested on flimsy charges. And these are people whose parties received
almost 50% of the popular vote amongst them. But when it comes to terrorism,
Musharraf feigns an "inability" to crackdown on the extremists, even though
he says that they only form 2% of his country's population. For a dictator
who rules by fiats, this is a lame excuse.
The fact is that Gen.Musharraf has
still not completely forsaken the idea of using jihad as a foreign policy
tool, whether against India or Afghanistan. The terrorists are his allies
in that effort. Therefore, he has no intent to meaningfully crackdown on
the terrorists. Whenever the pressure builds up Musharraf just arrests
some non-Pakistani terrorists to show "progress", while leaving the Pakistani
groups unharmed. By doing this, Musharraf may have closed the terror tap
for now, but has left the plumbing intact.
Unable to connect the dots - or
unwilling?
More than two years after the biggest
terrorist attack on America, the cliché "September 11 changed everything"
seems to be accepted as a fact by everyone in the policy making circles.
But the fact is that the same policy mistakes that led to the 9-11 attacks
seem to be repeated in the case of Pakistan. Unlike Saddam Hussein, who
foolishly chose to publicly confront America in the pursuit of his goals,
Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf realized that once he publicly aligned himself
with America, he could keep pursuing his terror friendly ways with impunity.
From Indonesia to Australia to Kenya
and even Turkey, every terrorist event seems to have a Pakistan connection.
Every Islamic terrorist, no matter where he is arrested, seems to be either
born in, trained in or has been hiding in Pakistan. Even Pakistani media
is aware that their country provides sanctuary to Islamic terrorists from
every corner of the globe. One prominent daily reported that as many as
36,000 militants are being trained in the seminaries of a single Pakistani
province! Indeed, despite Musharraf's tall promises, Pakistan still remains
Jihad Central.
So far America has had to consistently
downplay the obvious Pakistani role in the development of a nuclear Iran
and North Korea, Taliban resurgence at the cost of the lives and limbs
of American troops and being forced to ignore Musharraf's crushing of Pakistani
democracy, especially at a time where President Bush is calling for freedom
in the Islamic world.
At some point, someone in American
policymaking circles needs to evaluate whether all this is a fair price
to pay for Pakistani assistance in the capture of a few hundred Al Qaida
foot soldiers and the occasional leader, mostly timed to coincide with
Musharraf's US visits. Worse still, the sinister collusion between Pakistani
nuclear scientists, intelligence officials and Al Qaida linked terrorist
groups illustrates a clear and present danger to America. But is the Bush
administration paying attention? And can it do anything about it? Only
time will tell.
