More than two weeks after the Bajaur attack that killed women and children two key issues remain unresolved; US apology for undermining Pakistani sovereignty and preventing such attacks in future. Pakistan was not informed of the attack until after it took place. Reportedly Gen. Musharraf was told after it had taken place.
The government’s staggered response has included complaint about its sovereignty being undermined, its national interest being endangered, mild condemnation of the attack, gradual denial that Pakistan knew of the attack and regret over the loss of life. Not once has the president, prime minister or the PPP chairperson demanded US apology or compensation. Instead they have all underscored the need to deal with the problem of “foreign terrorists on Pakistani soil.”
More recently in Davos Musharraf balanced out his criticism of the attack saying, “While we condemn this attack, there are foreigners in Pakistan....Any interference in force by any country is violation of sovereignty, but so is the presence of foreigners on our soil.”
The strong public anger against the attack reflected in the media and through street protests raises basic questions regarding a government’s responsibility towards it citizens. If the US is conducting anti-terrorism operations to protect its citizens the primary obligation of the Pakistani government has to be toward its own citizens. Is it doing so? Or in fact its participation in the US “war on terrorism” is compromising the security of its own citizens?
However in addition to these concerns, there is a sense that US concerns too have been registered. After all neither the government of Pakistan nor the main opposition party the PPP sought apology or compensation from the Bush administration. Only the MMA and the PML-N did, but in public statements alone.
For example in the formal forum of the Senate the entire political spectrum of Pakistan was more careful. On Jan. 25 a unanimous resolution was adopted by the Senate that condemned the attack, loss of innocent lives “and “violation of the sovereignty...” Yet it did not blame the US or ask for an apology. Instead it twice underscored the “importance of friendly cooperative relations” between Pakistan and the US. The entire opposition including the MMA supported the resolution that stressed that the two countries “utilize the available institutional mechanisms for better coordination in the context of efforts against terrorism”.
In Washington they “mean business.” They maintain heightened Taleban activity initiated from the Taleban sanctuaries inside Pakistan, the picking up of “Arab chatter” in Pakistan’s tribal belt, the increase in the number of US soldiers killed inside Afghanistan through “cross-border attacks” and the re-emergence of banned religious groups in earthquake-hit areas mean the Pakistan government is not doing enough to “dismantle” them.
With this list of complaints Gen. Musharraf’s assertions that there is “no country that has done as much as we have in countering terrorism,” and that Pakistan fought terrorism militarily and shared critical information with other countries and helped save many lives, is unlikely to dent Washington’s skepticism regarding Pakistan’s intentions.
More hot pursuits may therefore follow. There has been no apology. No mention either of compensating the families of the 18 civilians killed by the attacks. Instead the US Sen. McCain categorically stated there could be more such attacks to nab “terrorists.”
When Shaukat Aziz raised the issue of the attacks with US Defense Secretary Rumsfeld he was told that “fleeting targets” made it difficult for the US to get clearance from the Pakistani government. The Americans again promised to give night equipment etc. for conducting anti-terrorist operations. The endless delays probably indicate Washington’s hesitation in giving this equipment to Pakistan.
The reason for Washington not informing Pakistan before the Bajaur attack was simply that the Americans believed there was a possibility of some elements within Pakistani institutions helping the targets to flee. And the Washington Post editorial, written perhaps after an off-the-record briefing, clearly spelt out this factor. It advocated more US air strikes on Pakistani territory if US intelligence specified that as the area of Taleban or Al-Qaeda operation. This is then the fundamental issue and the abiding problem that the Bajaur attack raises for Pakistan. The information minister’s statement that “We want to assure the people that we will not allow such incident to recur,” is well intentioned but untrue. The Americans have other plans. Pakistan and the United States will have to engage seriously on this issue.
Pakistan cannot have the blood of its citizens flow to protect US citizens against real or imagined terrorists. Pakistan’s contributions to the war on terrorism have been unparalleled. Dozens of Pakistani soldiers have been killed in the tribal belt.
Why then the abiding American concerns and its intentions to carry on occasional operations inside Pakistan? This calls for candid engagement by the two allies to achieve a goal that the entire region shares.
For this Pakistan and the US have an elaborate collaborative institutional arrangement in place. That must be fully utilized to address the mutual concerns. Not just the concerns of Washington. Any unilateral action by Washington that ignores Pakistan’s legitimate concerns is unlikely to help address Washington’s own legitimate concerns.
