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Salaam!
An interesting article....
Ref:Has America gone mad?
Has America gone mad?
Dissenting note
Friday, April 10, 2009
Dr Masooda Bano
What an idea: joint US-Pakistan military operations in the tribal belt. If the "war on terror" policies pursued in Pakistan under the Bush administration have not already succeeded in making a complete mess of Pakistan, it seems that the action plan being evolved by the Obama administration will. The idea that joint operations in the tribal areas can help eliminate militancy in the tribal belt represents such a flight of imagination that it is actually scary. It indicates that the US administration is simply clueless about the recruitment dynamics of Islamic militancy and also of the very basic characteristics of the Pashtoons. A sense of injustice is the primary mobilising tool for the Islamic groups, and "revenge" and "honour" are the two defining characteristics of the Pashtoon culture. In such a context, military operations led by the Pakistani army themselves are enough to mobilise more resistance, adding the US military to it is a recipe for making Pakistan another Afghanistan.
The real problem with the US planners and Pakistanis who are in favour of military operations as a solution to the militancy is that they refuse to understand how Islamic militants groups operate. They rely on a heavy moral discourse to justify their acts. It is a vocabulary of justice, of honour. The Pakistanis who went to fight in Afghanistan during the Soviet war were not mainly madrasa students, they came from all walks of life, many came from Pakistani universities. They went to Afghanistan because they were convinced of the injustice against Afghan Muslims.
As one of my respondents from liberal elite circles in Islamabad once said, "all the people that I can recall from my university who went for jihad in Afghanistan were actually the more committed people. It takes courage to come out on a street to protest, it takes further courage to take the police beating, and it takes even more courage to go to jail in defence of the cause that you believe in. The real jihadis are such people, who have a strong sense of justice, a strong will, and the ability to take pain." Of course, other factors such as a sense of adventure, the nature of networks, and a sense of purpose in life, also play role in attracting people towards the militant group. The other main factor, which has been shown to be important in my research, is the sense of revenge.
This is not to argue that the leaders of the militant groups are all noble people but to suggest that in order to mobilise people to join a militant group they have to adopt a very moral discourse and a discourse based on justice. A recent publication analysing the speeches of leaders of Al Qaeda shows how the discourse is built all around justice and morality. The US support for Israeli aggression against Palestinians, the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq are the central mobilising tools for militant groups across the Muslim world. Knowing all this and yet proposing more military operations and that also joint ones thus raises serious concerns about Obama administration's ability to check militancy in Pakistan. The casualties emerging from these operations only further raise the mobilising power of the militant groups they don't reduce it.
The more the Obama action plan is being unveiled the more difficult it is becoming to see the differences between the proposed policies and those of the Bush administration. Military operations in the tribal belt and unchecked flows of aid to military and civilian elites in Pakistan were the two main pillars of the policies of the Bush administration in Pakistan. The former has increased the recruiting power of the militant groups, the latter has built vested interests within the military and civilian elites to perpetuate militancy in Pakistan because the aid flows that these elites have so much started to enjoy are contingent on Pakistan continue to have militancy.
To say that pursing more of the same set of policies that have created a complete mess of Pakistan in the past seven years will deliver a new dawn is asking too much from the Pakistani public. Unless the US administration can show how its proposed military operations will differ from the options pursued in the past, it presents no hope for ordinary Pakistanis.
The real cause of militancy in Pakistan as seen today are not the Taliban, it is the vested interests within the Pakistani elite who are using the myth of the Taliban to keep the Pakistani public and the world community hostage. Unless the US can figure out a way to deal with them, more aid will only mean more militancy in Pakistan.
The biggest concern however is that increasingly it is not clear why US is concerned about Pakistan. Is it actually that is fears an attack from likes of Baitullah Mesud or is it that after Sept 11, the US administration has to show the US public that it is doing something to fight Islamic militancy and having casualties in Pakistan just becomes a way of proving to the US citizens the government's resolve to protect them. Who were the Pakistanis who were killed in these operations, and how these operations are destabilising the Pakistani nation are in then questions better not asked.
The writer is a research fellow at the Oxford University. Email: mb294@ hotmail.com
An interesting article....
Ref:Has America gone mad?
Has America gone mad?
Dissenting note
Friday, April 10, 2009
Dr Masooda Bano
What an idea: joint US-Pakistan military operations in the tribal belt. If the "war on terror" policies pursued in Pakistan under the Bush administration have not already succeeded in making a complete mess of Pakistan, it seems that the action plan being evolved by the Obama administration will. The idea that joint operations in the tribal areas can help eliminate militancy in the tribal belt represents such a flight of imagination that it is actually scary. It indicates that the US administration is simply clueless about the recruitment dynamics of Islamic militancy and also of the very basic characteristics of the Pashtoons. A sense of injustice is the primary mobilising tool for the Islamic groups, and "revenge" and "honour" are the two defining characteristics of the Pashtoon culture. In such a context, military operations led by the Pakistani army themselves are enough to mobilise more resistance, adding the US military to it is a recipe for making Pakistan another Afghanistan.
The real problem with the US planners and Pakistanis who are in favour of military operations as a solution to the militancy is that they refuse to understand how Islamic militants groups operate. They rely on a heavy moral discourse to justify their acts. It is a vocabulary of justice, of honour. The Pakistanis who went to fight in Afghanistan during the Soviet war were not mainly madrasa students, they came from all walks of life, many came from Pakistani universities. They went to Afghanistan because they were convinced of the injustice against Afghan Muslims.
As one of my respondents from liberal elite circles in Islamabad once said, "all the people that I can recall from my university who went for jihad in Afghanistan were actually the more committed people. It takes courage to come out on a street to protest, it takes further courage to take the police beating, and it takes even more courage to go to jail in defence of the cause that you believe in. The real jihadis are such people, who have a strong sense of justice, a strong will, and the ability to take pain." Of course, other factors such as a sense of adventure, the nature of networks, and a sense of purpose in life, also play role in attracting people towards the militant group. The other main factor, which has been shown to be important in my research, is the sense of revenge.
This is not to argue that the leaders of the militant groups are all noble people but to suggest that in order to mobilise people to join a militant group they have to adopt a very moral discourse and a discourse based on justice. A recent publication analysing the speeches of leaders of Al Qaeda shows how the discourse is built all around justice and morality. The US support for Israeli aggression against Palestinians, the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq are the central mobilising tools for militant groups across the Muslim world. Knowing all this and yet proposing more military operations and that also joint ones thus raises serious concerns about Obama administration's ability to check militancy in Pakistan. The casualties emerging from these operations only further raise the mobilising power of the militant groups they don't reduce it.
The more the Obama action plan is being unveiled the more difficult it is becoming to see the differences between the proposed policies and those of the Bush administration. Military operations in the tribal belt and unchecked flows of aid to military and civilian elites in Pakistan were the two main pillars of the policies of the Bush administration in Pakistan. The former has increased the recruiting power of the militant groups, the latter has built vested interests within the military and civilian elites to perpetuate militancy in Pakistan because the aid flows that these elites have so much started to enjoy are contingent on Pakistan continue to have militancy.
To say that pursing more of the same set of policies that have created a complete mess of Pakistan in the past seven years will deliver a new dawn is asking too much from the Pakistani public. Unless the US administration can show how its proposed military operations will differ from the options pursued in the past, it presents no hope for ordinary Pakistanis.
The real cause of militancy in Pakistan as seen today are not the Taliban, it is the vested interests within the Pakistani elite who are using the myth of the Taliban to keep the Pakistani public and the world community hostage. Unless the US can figure out a way to deal with them, more aid will only mean more militancy in Pakistan.
The biggest concern however is that increasingly it is not clear why US is concerned about Pakistan. Is it actually that is fears an attack from likes of Baitullah Mesud or is it that after Sept 11, the US administration has to show the US public that it is doing something to fight Islamic militancy and having casualties in Pakistan just becomes a way of proving to the US citizens the government's resolve to protect them. Who were the Pakistanis who were killed in these operations, and how these operations are destabilising the Pakistani nation are in then questions better not asked.
The writer is a research fellow at the Oxford University. Email: mb294@ hotmail.com
