Daily Times

Pakistanis have to wait and see how the fate of their Prime Minister plays out. The United States, however, is seemingly in a rather more impatient mood. For if outward manoeuvrings are to be taken at face value — arrangements are already being made for a post-Nawaz government. Whether or not this is one that the Americans potentially envisage as comprising no civvies remains to be seen.

Naturally, accelerated changes to Washington’s military focus vis-à-vis Pakistan may be put down to a still new American administration that is gung-ho about leaving its stamp on the geo-political horizon. We do not call this the opportunism of an apprentice-president. Rather, this appears a relatively well-planned change in military tilt.

In the year since President Trump found himself in the hot seat — US drone strikes have resumed in Pakistan, the first one of the new regime hitting back in March. This was after a long overdue hiatus engineered by the previous trigger-happy president, that hawkish dove named Obama. Then there was another attack last month that reportedly took out a commander of the Haqqani network, the militant group that Pakistan is accused of providing with safe-havens. This is the same outfit at the heart of the US move to hold back $50 million in Coalition Support Funds as well as the complete rescinding of an additional $300 million. This announcement came on the very same day that Pakistan’s Supreme Court announced an unspecified delay in its corruption probe Nawaz and his family. It is a verdict that could possibly see him unseated from the premiership. That Washington chose this day to announce a no-cash deal may or may not be a coincidence. In May, the US had already warned that it was recommending a $100 million cut to the $900 million requested by Pakistan for fiscal year 2018.

When Pakistan returned to civilian rule back in 2008, Washington was falling over itself to inject cash infusions to the country. To the tune of $7.5 billion over a five-year-period, subject of course to an A-OK report card for good behaviour signed by the State Department. Except that Pakistan didn’t receive all the promised dosh. This was supposed to be the much-touted democracy dividend that many here were suspicious of from the beginning, believing it to be little more than payback for the Pakistani state’s complicity in a rudderless war on terror; and beefed up US drone programme. It seems that they were right.

We say this not to let our political leadership off the hook. Far from it. For much too long has the state apparatus sold itself to the highest bidder, for hard currency returns. But we have said it before and we say it again — Pakistan may not have been mercurial partner in the global war of terror but it has been a consistent partner. Meaning that we have not changed our face in terms of showing anyone who would care to look the good, bad and the ugly. We have always been a more warts-and-all kind of country.

And while the people of Pakistan busy themselves with the business of finding out whether they or the courts will decide the fate of Prime Minister Nawaz — we would sincerely advise the American President to turn his attention to the small matter of alleged Russian electoral interference. It’s just a thought.*

Published in Daily Times, July 22^nd , 2017.