Pakistan Has its Reasons for Acting Like a 'Double Dealer'
"Once
the Westerners have left Afghanistan, Pakistan will have to deal with its
neighboring country, and if possible, return it to Islamabad's sphere of
influence. … The last thing it wants to do is appear close to the U.S. There is
therefore an element of theater in the current dispute. But it's a dangerous
game that can deteriorate if Pakistan is itself swept up into the Afghan
conflict - which could well be the case."
By
giving the go-ahead to a very progressive withdrawal of NATO troops from
Afghanistan, Barack Obama has shifted the goal posts of the fight against terrorism
to neighboring Pakistan.
With
the raid that allowed American commandos to kill bin Laden in the garrison town
of Abbottabad, relations between the United States and Pakistan have
deteriorated further. The fact that the al-Qaeda leader found refuge for six
years so close to Islamabad suggests that he received support from the Pakistan
secret service [ISI]. This
suspicion is reinforced by the discovery, just revealed, of a cell phone tying
bin Laden to one of numerous organizations with known connections to that
service.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
The absence of
any U.S.-Pakistan coordination during the raid has exacerbated Pakistani anger
against the United States, while the Americans are more convinced than ever of
Pakistani "double-dealing" vis-à-vis the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
But Islamabad has
its reasons for cultivating ambiguity: once the Westerners have left
Afghanistan, Pakistan will have to deal with its neighboring country, and if
possible, return it to Islamabad's sphere of influence. With Islamabad mounting
an offensive on its own soil against the Taliban, which has bases on the other
side of the border, its means of influencing the Afghan combatants are limited.
The last thing it wants to do is appear close to the United States. There is
therefore an element of theater in the current dispute. But it's a dangerous
game that can deteriorate if Pakistan is itself swept up into the Afghan
conflict - which could well be the case.
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