Pakistan-United States Deteriorating Ties

Islamabad-Washington tensions over cross-border incursions by the US military and Afghan forces into Pakistan’s tribal areas have been rising for months, as the US and NATO forces have suffered major setbacks in Afghanistan. Tensions reached a peak when US commandos landed helicopter gunships in village Musa Nika of Southern Waziristan on September 3, 2008 and killed two dozen people. This operation gave a clear sign of shifting US regional policy towards Pakistan. 

 

The September 2008 attack was not the first by the US forces inside Pakistan. The increase in the frequency of attacks days before the presidential election in Pakistan was seen by many as a major shift in the US policy towards Pakistan. Earlier too coalition forces in Afghanistan had occasionally carried out air strikes and artillery attacks in the border region of Pakistan. The US is of the view that Pakistan is not doing enough in curbing the militant attacks on the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan and elements in the ISI are still assisting the militants. Britain finds it difficult to accept rising casualties in Afghanistan. India is convinced that the bombing of its embassy in Kabul in July 2008 was carried out in collaboration with Pakistan’s security officials and intelligence agencies. The CIA and other US intelligence agencies believe that not only was the bombing of India’s embassy in Kabul was helped by ISI operatives but also the highest level of Pakistan’s security apparatus knew about it. 

 

Islamabad-Washington differences are now so wide ranging that the Pakistani troops fired at two US Chinook helicopters and foiled their attempt to land inside Pakistan in the tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan on September 15, 2008. According to a local security official, the two helicopters backed by a jet fighter had tried to land in the Angor Adda village of South Waziristan where an earlier raid by the US troops had killed two dozen people on September 3, 2008. But Maj Murad Khan, a spokesman of the Pakistani military, and Sgt Chris Peavy, a spokesman of the US military in Afghanistan, denied the reports of gunfire. Pakistani forces fired on two helicopters which had crossed from Afghanistan into Saidgai, Ghulam Khan Sector, North Waziristan, on September 25, 2008 while these were attempting to land inside Pakistan.

 

A report in New York Times of September 11, 2008 had stated that President Bush had given secret orders in July 2008 authorising US forces to carry out ground attacks inside Pakistan without seeking permission from Pakistan. Under this new policy, the US will notify Pakistan when it conducts raids, but will not seek its permission. Reportedly, the orders were issued after months of debate within the Bush Administration about whether to authorise military action using ground troops inside Pakistan. 

 

The intense US military attacks inside Pakistan have embarrassed the new government in that country as these have taken more than a hundred lives. The Chief of the Army Staff, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, rejected US claims that the rules of engagement gave the coalition forces in Afghanistan the right to enter Pakistan. General Kayani said on September 10, 2008, “the rules of engagement with the Coalition forces are well defined and within that the right to conduct operations against the militants inside own territory is solely the responsibility of the respective armed forces.” He added there is no question of any agreement or understanding with the Coalition forces to conduct operations on the Pakistan side of the border. General Kayani’s statement dispelled a perception that military actions carried out inside Pakistan by drones and warplanes of the US-led Coalition had been authorised by Islamabad. 

 

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani stated on September 11, 2008 that “we would take all possible steps to safeguard the country’s border.” Prime Minister Gilani said the army chief’s view is a reflection of the government policy and the government had the same views as expressed by the army chief on defending the country’s sovereignty and integrity. The corps commanders held a meeting on September 11, 2008 and discussed the national security situation with reference to US incursions in the tribal areas and endorsed the army chief’s statement. The meeting of the corps commanders was held against the backdrop of a change of the US policy in the region and US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen’s remarks. Admiral Mullen said, we are looking at a new, more comprehensive strategy for the region that would cover Pakistan along with Afghanistan. This was the first meeting of corps commanders after the resignation of General Musharraf. 

 

The US officials were surprised at the intensity of the Pakistani response. President Asif Ali Zardari visited Washington on September 23, 2008. Pakistan’s National Security Advisor Mahmud Ali Durrani visited Washington in mid-September 2008 and met top White House officials. The Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen visited Islamabad on September 16, 2008 for allaying Pakistani concerns. Admiral Mullen met Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, and General Kayani and reiterated the US commitment not to violate Pakistan’s sovereignty. Despite Amiral Mullen’s assurances, the US drones fired missiles in South Waziristan that killed six people on September 17, 2008. Pakistan’s Foreign Office summoned US Ambassador Anne W. Patterson on October 29, 2008 and lodged a protest against continuing drone attacks inside Pakistan.

 

The US drone attacks have caused considerable resentment in Pakistan. Pakistan must build a consensus within the country to fight terrorism and reassess past linkages with the militants. Pakistan contributed tremendously in creating and nurturing such elements throughout the 1980s in the Afghan war when the ISI and CIA played a major role in creating the militant groups. Some of these militant groups continue to be supported by elements within the intelligence agencies. The people were motivated in the name of Islam to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan. Pakistan has been paying the price for the misguided policies of Zia-ul-Haq. It emerges clearly that Pakistan-US relations will continue to remain tense in the near future.

 

 

(Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the views either of the Editorial Committee or the Centre for Land Warfare Studies)