Author: Editorial
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: May 11, 2011
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/337852/Seen-no-evil-hear-no-evil.html
Pakistan continues with its dumb charade
One may be understandably hard pressed to
credit the Prime Minister of Pakistan Yousuf Raza Gilani with anything positive
but after his address to the National Assembly, he almost deserves to be applauded
for putting on a brave face and continuing to insist that Pakistan has done
much to fight terror while simultaneously providing the world's most wanted
terrorist with a safe haven right outside the national capital. Such blatant
hypocrisy! Mr Gilani's statement on Monday was supposed to be an account of
what Pakistan knew about Osama bin Laden's presence in Abbottabad but instead
turned out to be criticism of the US for daring to enter Pakistani air space
without the express sanction of the country's leaders. Mr Gilani not only
came down heavily on the US for having violated Pakistan's sovereignty while
carrying out 'Operation Geronimo' which he described as a "unilateral
action," but also warned that a repeat of such an "attack... will
get a matching response" and similar attempts to capture high profile
terrorists safely ensconced within Pakistani borders will be met with "full
force." It does not take a political analyst to decipher Mr Gilani's
statement as a veiled threat to India. It is an open secret that Pakistan
is home to several fugitives who have found themselves a spot on India's most
wanted list, including the masterminds of the 26/11 attack on Mumbai. Clearly,
Mr Gilani is worried stiff that India might actually go ahead and carry out
a similar operation. The legitimacy of his fears apart, the most amusing part
of his speech was his reverse criticism of the US for fostering terrorism
in the first place! In a thinly disguised counter-attack, Mr Gilani told the
National Assembly that, "We cannot be blamed for the flawed policies
and blunders of others" - a clear reference to the American policy of
supporting mujahideen in Afghanistan in a bid to counter the growing influence
of the erstwhile Soviet Union. He further added: "Pakistan is not the
birthplace of Al Qaeda. We did not invite Osama bin Laden to Pakistan."
As if any of that is an excuse for the fact that the Al Qaeda chief was living
right under the Pakistani military's nose for several years. However, it was
Mr Gilani's assertion that "no other country in the world and no other
security agency has done so much to interdict Al Qaeda than the ISI and our
armed forces" which served as the proverbial cherry on the cake. His
efforts to defend the country's intelligence services would have been praiseworthy
had it not been so ludicrous. His claims that American "allegations of
complicity (between the ISI and Al Qaeda) and incompetence are absurd"
is exactly that: Absurd.
Thankfully, the Obama Administration continues
to stand its ground. Irrespective of whether the US was "within its rights",
as White House officials put it, to violate Pakistani air space, the fact
is that Osama bin Laden - the head of a terror network who had ordered the
deaths of thousands of innocent people around the world - secured sanctuary
in Pakistan. Now it is time for Pakistan to explain to the rest of the world
how exactly he managed to do so when the country's leadership claims it has
been firm in its commitment to the war on terror since 9/11. The US would
do well to keep up the pressure on Pakistan so as to ensure that it answers
some tough questions that the whole world is asking.
