Daily Times

Donald Trump has done it again. Not content with arguing, in an interview with Fox News, that Islamabad has not done “a damn thing” to contribute to the GWOT — while suggesting that the top leadership had actively sheltered Bin Laden — the US President then took to Twitter to repeat the charge. Thereby prompting Prime Minister Imran Khan to tweet several rebuttals. Since then, the Foreign Office has summoned the top American diplomat. While the Pentagon has done its best to try and diffuse the situation by emphasising that Pakistan remains a critical regional partner.

This latest outburst against this country could not have come at a worse time for the Afghan peace process. Especially given that the Americans continue to outsource responsibility to Pakistan to drag the Taliban to the multilateral negotiating table. When, in fact, it is Kabul that needs encouragement on this front. All of which suggests that Mr Trump has lost sight of the bigger picture here. Indeed, his predecessor went on record as saying that there was no evidence suggesting that the Pakistani state knew the Al Qaeda chief was hiding in plain sight. But if the un-quiet American is keen to revisit history then someone somewhere should impress upon him the fact that the Af-Pak region is today still suffering the blowback from the US proxy war against the Soviets some 40 years ago. Similarly, successive White Houses in the post-9/11 environment have sought to scapegoat this country time and again.

Naturally, the aforementioned is no substitute for policy. Moreover, at a time when the US special envoy for Afghan peace is doing his level best to put Washington, rightly or wrongly, in the driving seat in this regard — the man at the top appears to be shooting himself in the foot. This is not to suggest the Khan government will pull the plug on talking peace with Kabul. After all, it has to live in this neighbourhood. But it is to point out the sheer irresponsibility of this particular American presidency.

Pakistan is battling a resurgent and violent religious right on the home front. And it is one that feeds off anti-American sentiment. Such blatant whitewashing of the numerous sacrifices made by Islamabad in the GWOT therefore only serves to weaken the latter’s hand. And if prolonged, this will place the country on a dangerous trajectory. One where it faces an increasing home-grown militant threat; including from those groups that are making most of safe-havens on the other side of the Durand Line.

The US would therefore do better to convince the Ghani government to take a seat at the multilateral negotiating table as a first step towards bilateral engagement with the Taliban. Yet by refusing to play ball on this front — Kabul is the one risking eventual Afghan peace. For all the region’s actors have shown willing to participate in the reconciliation process. From Pakistan to Russia to China to India to the Central Asian nations. Yet President Ghani choses non-engagement; preferring to sit back and accuse this country of sponsoring terrorism; even as Islamabad formally invites it to join CPEC.

All of which has led pundits both here and abroad to question the US strategy for Afghanistan; and whether it acutally intends to leave the region. Reckless statements indicate some measure of indecision on securing a real and lasting peace deal. Bluntly put, this will not happen without Pakistan’s inclusion in the endgame. The Afghan people deserve better. For the last 17 years have not brought any sustainable gains. Admittedly, the country is being run as a parliamentary democracy, with a viable Constitution. Yet, the Taliban reportedly control or actively contest anywhere between 40-70 percent of territory. Thus positive developments, such as women’s participation in the political process, will not bear long-term results if a peace deal is not put into place. And as history always reminds us: foreign occupations always do more harm than good.  *

Published in Daily Times, November 21^st 2018.