Pakistan in a squeeze over
Iraq By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - After meeting with
Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf this week,
comments by General John Abizaid, Chief of the US
Central Command, which oversees forces in the Middle
East and other regions, were typically diplomatic: "We
discussed
matters of
mutual interest, the geostrategic environment, the
security situation and ways and means to further enhance
the existing ties between the armed forces of the two
countries."
Behind the broad statements, though,
one can expect that the US, which is actively ensuring
that Pakistani troops do their job in hunting down
foreign and Afghan resistance fighters sheltering in
Pakistani territory, had more specific requests of
Musharraf, whose government thrives on the support given
to it by Washington.
"Pakistan is likely to send
its troops to Iraq well before the next general
elections in that country [scheduled for early next
year]," says former director general of the
Inter-Services Intelligence, retired Lieutenant-General
Hamid Gul, in a telephone interview with Asia Times
Online.
"Pakistan is the specific domain of
the US Central Command, like India falls under the
Pacific Command, and the visit of General John Abizaid
means there is an exclusive agenda in the region with
marked priorities, which include operations in
the Pakistan-Afghanistan tribal areas and forcing
Pakistan to support its war in Iraq, where the US now
has realized that its troop operations are a failure
and only Muslim armies can play a role," said Gul, who was
a part of Pakistan's ruling oligarchy until Islamabad
did an about-turn on Afghanistan and support of the
Taliban in late 2001, and gradually sidelined those
who supported jihadi movements. Gul is the architect
of Pakistan's jihadi movement, which played an active role
in Kashmir and Afghanistan.
Gul strongly
believes that by giving Pakistan "major non-NATO ally"
(North Atlantic Treaty Organization) status, the US has
already struck a deal under which it bargained military
cooperation in return for the support of Musharraf's
regime. "The US establishment has already accepted
Musharraf's non-democratic rule in return for his
support to help them crush anti-US movements which the
US has branded as terror outfits," said Gul.
US
President George W Bush gave Pakistan "major non-NATO
ally" status several months ago, saying that the
designation would boost security cooperation between the
two allies.
"Sixteen countries enjoy the status
of non-NATO allies. Each one has a US base and each and
every one actively participates in US operations
everywhere in the world, " Gul maintained. "As per my
information, the US asked Musharraf to spare 50,000
troops for different US operations, and most of them
will be used in Iraq. At the same time, they have
specifically marked areas in Pakistan where the US needs
to establish its presence to control the Afghan
resistance movement.
"The areas where the US
need its presence [bases] is along the 2,240-kilometer
border with Afghanistan. However, after South Waziristan
[tribal area] the next target will be Drosh, near
Chitral [North West Frontier Province] where US
intelligence has pointed to some foreign presence.
"After so many operations in South Waziristan
[by the Pakistani army to track foreigners], the US is
still unsatisfied and its ambassador to Afghanistan
[Zalmay Khalilzad] has once again raised a hue and cry
that whatever has been done in Wana [principal city in
South Waziristan] is not enough."
Gul maintains
that the way the situation is developing in the region,
the US will establish its physical presence to tighten
the noose around the Afghan resistance in Pakistani
areas such as Qila Saifullah, Shila Bagh, Dal Bandin,
(Balochistan) Khyber, Tal and Razmak, as well as
increase its presence in Afghanistan.
Gul, who
is acknowledged to have his ear close to the corridors
of power, although not a part of the new oligarchy,
maintains that Pakistan has been waiting for a United
Nations role before sending its troops to Iraq, and now
that the UN Security Council has unanimously passed
Resolution 1546, legitimizing the presence of the US-led
multinational force in post-occupation Iraq, Pakistan
has the justification and it is likely that it will send
its forces before general elections in Iraq.
The
elections are scheduled to take place by January 31,
however, newly appointed Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said
recently that they could be delayed for two months.
"Actually, elections are the main problems for
the US in both Afghanistan [due in September] and Iraq,
and all efforts to launch operations in the
Pakistan-Afghanistan tribal belt and sending
reinforcements to Iraq from Muslim countries are just a
prelude to the elections. However, this is wishful
thinking, that armies from Muslim countries will control
the resistance movement over there [Iraq]. Resistance
fighters will not spare even the soldiers of the
Pakistan army if they go there to serve the US's agenda.
The irony of this US program is that it has decided to
silently reduce its political and strategic presence,
yet enjoy control through its puppet government and
armies from Muslim countries, who will just become
cannon fodder," observed Gul.
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matters of
mutual interest, the geostrategic environment, the
security situation and ways and means to further enhance
the existing ties between the armed forces of the two
countries." 
