[Peace-discuss] Tariq Ali on Pakistan

[C. G. Estabrook]

	Published on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 by The Guardian/UK
	Pakistan's Drift into the Hands of Extremists

The intention of the attack on Sri Lanka's cricket team was to send a clear 
message to Washington: Pakistan is ungovernable

by Tariq Ali

The appalling terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers in Pakistan had one 
aim: to demonstrate to Washington that the country is ungovernable. This is the 
first time that cricketers have been targeted in a land where the sport is akin 
to religion. It marks the death of international cricket in Pakistan for the 
indefinite future, but not just that, which is bad enough. The country's future 
is looking more and more precarious. We do not know which particular group 
carried out this attack, but its identity is hardly relevant. The fact is that 
it took place at a time when three interrelated events had angered a large bulk 
of the country and provided succour to extremist groups and their patrons.

The first is undoubtedly the foolish decision by Washington (backed by Britain) 
to send more troops to Afghanistan, which has now united all those resisting 
them in that country and the North-West Frontier province of Pakistan. Instead 
of searching for a viable exit strategy, Obama has gone for a surge. On several 
occasions, I have warned that escalating the war in Afghanistan could seriously 
destabilise Pakistan and its army.

Second, Senator Dianne Feinstein's revelation that the US drones being used to 
target "militants" and "terrorist havens" inside Pakistan were, in fact, being 
despatched by the US from military and air-force bases inside Pakistan 
(obviously, with the approval of the Pakistani military and civilian leaders) 
created mayhem in the country. The shock and dismay should not be 
underestimated. Half-hearted government denials further fanned the flames. Since 
many in the country regard Zardari and his cronies running the country as US 
drones, the anger was multiplied.

Domestically, the country is a mess. The People's party has learnt and forgotten 
nothing. Corruption is rife and stories circulate linking the money being paid 
by bankers directly to the president's house. Add to this Zardari's refusal to 
honour an election pledge restoring an independent judiciary, and his decision 
to manipulate tame judges to disqualify his opponents has not gone down well. 
The controversy was aggravated by Zardari's move to dismiss the elected 
government in the country's most populous and strategically important province, 
the Punjab (capital: Lahore), and impose direct rule, after its chief minister 
apparently refused to accept a bribe in the shape of a lucrative business deal 
in return for abandoning the fight to restore the chief justice fired by the 
military leader over a year ago.

The failures of this government and its inability to defend the country's 
interests or its population from drones or terrorist attacks are paving the way 
for the return of the army to power as a way of avoiding a serious split within 
its own ranks. All that is awaited is a green light from the US embassy in 
Islamabad. Not that this would solve anything, but it might create the illusion 
of stability for a few months. It's no good Pakistani politicians mumbling that 
this is "our Mumbai". The fact is that, over the last year, the Zardari 
government has done a great deal for itself and its clients, but nothing for the 
people or the country. The more Pakistan drifts, the more opportunities offer 
themselves to the extremists.

© 2009 Guardian News and Media Limited 2009
Tariq Ali has been a leading figure of the international left since the 60s. He 
has been writing for the Guardian since the 70s. He is a long-standing editor of 
the New Left Review and a political commentator published on every continent.