Up against twin threats

The US strategy of hurling missile on the Pakistani soil was doomed to backfire. One would have wished that it had tied the loose ends with its NATO allies. But as the Bush administration became desperate at failing to make headway against the local resistance movement in Afghanistan, it decided more than two years ago to launch aerial attacks at what it perceived to be the hideouts of Al-Qaeda or the Taliban, located within Pakistan's territorial jurisdiction in FATA. While initially not acknowledging responsibility for these missile hits, it began propagating that the tribal belt was serving as the nursery of militants, who were sneaking across the border to attack the NATO-led forces and create disturbances and then returning to their sanctuaries in Pakistan. The outcome is there for anyone to see, just the reverse of the desired objective: there has been an upsurge of violence not only in Afghanistan but also in Pakistan and virtually the entire tribal region is in turmoil, rather than seeing the return of calm and peace. And on top of that, the danger of destabilisation seems to be staring more fixedly in Pakistan's eyes.

Thus, the second threat to Pakistan's stability comes from militants from within. Islamabad's association with the US in its War On Terror had created deep resentment in the tribal areas, but its active participation through military operations and the American missile strikes have raised the tribesmen's anger to a fury. The challenge of facing the twin threats could only be faced with the nation acting like one man. The US must realise that its policies are creating more complications for its ally and defeating its own purpose. Its early departure from the scene would markedly ease the situation. Pakistan could also be helped in carrying out socio-economic projects in the area with the purpose of bringing the tribesmen into the mainstream of life to rule out the chances of militancy.