The High Cost of Free Lunch
Try as we might to break the curse of being in war one way or another, but it is just not happening. As Pakistan’s own victory against the terrorists in Tirah valley was almost at hand, someone stirred up yet another pond and fishes within, somewhere faraway, yet Pakistan was asked to get ready, to bring the fishing rods and join the party in Yemen.
The mercurial change in the Gulf with the new appointment of the King of KSA and his cabinet started shortly with such a bang over Yemen that many players in the region were caught by surprise as perhaps they were not expecting such a bold move from the newly appointed Saudi knights. One reason was their most recent ascension of the throne, second, turning the tables over Assad through FSA in Syria and, third, culling down any chance of the Arab Spring in the kingdom. Everyone was watching over ISIL and their horrific crimes and was busy fencing the backyards against their intrusion when suddenly Saudis declared war on the Houthis. Among the many players who were caught unaware of the Saudi led GCC coalition, there are two important players for various reasons; one Iran and another Pakistan of course.
Most of the Pakistanis are under the impression and that it is Pakistan who has taken the contract of fighting the wars on behalf of Arabs but if we are to dig in a bit keenly, the facts and figures may not support this impression in its general sense.
Pak-Arab relations have seen ups and downs at different stages but these relations are also wrapped in some myths and urban legends. One such legend needs clarification and that is; Pakistan army did not play any role in fighting against the insurgents during the Siege of Makkah in 1979. With some assistance from French GIGN, those were actually the Saudis National Guards who fought against the Al-Qahtani and his gang who had laid a siege to the Holy House. Arab knows very well how to deal with the fellow Arabs, it is their history. The way Pakistan army has fought massively against USSR in Afghanistan and against LTTE in Sri Lanka; it has never participated in the same way in any war alongside its Arab allies. Historically, most of the time it had been just a dozen or a little more of our instructors and PAF pilots who had flown combat missions on behalf of Syria, Jordan and Iraq against Israel during the two Arab-Israeli wars fought in 1966 and 1973. A small contingent of PAF pilots were stationed at Khamis Mushayt Air Base in Saudi Arabia as part of a training program in 1969. This was the time, when PAF pilots had newly emerged victorious in the Indo-Pak war of 1965 and were known for their deadly air combat skills and discipline. South Yemen, which at the time was under a communist regime for whatever reason attacked and captured Mount Vadiya inside the Saudi Arabian province of Sharoora. PAF pilots who were serving as instructors were requested for help and those present at the time flew some strafing missions against the fast advancing Yemenis mechanized cavalry.
One more event really needs not to be missed as it has been propagated in relevance to the persona and politics involved and has never been questioned on the basis of its legitimacy. It happened in Jordan in 1971 against the Palestinian notorious armed faction and Yasser Arafat’s own ‘Black September’. The persona involved was none other than General Zia-ul-Haq who was heading a training mission to Jordan. Black September was behaving no different than the nowadays Talebans and were in control of Jordanian territory. When King Hussein decided to go into war against the Black September, Brigadier Zial-ul-Haq was requested by King Hussein to plan and assist in the offensive. Not only, that, Zia took the command of the 2nd division of the Jordanian army, yes; the Jordanian army, not the Pakistani army and attacked Irbid which was under the control of Black September. The 11-day fight ended with the defeat of Black September and the rule of Hashemite Monarchy over Jordan was decided ever after. In Pakistan, those who hate General Zia claimed that the Pakistan Army butchered some 25,000 ‘innocent’Palestenians under Zia. Well, this is the figure that even Yasser Arafat did not claim as the whole casualties of the war from the Palestinian side were around 3,000. The most amazing point in the event is that, Brigadier Zia did not take part in the war on the behest of Pakistan, rather it was his own personal decision for which Major General Nawazish who was the head of the same training mission sent a signal back to GHQ that Zia be court martialled for disobeying the GHQ orders to stand down and not to take part in the war. What happened to the proceedings of the court martial is another story though.
One more impression which is very much popular among the leftist is that Pakistan Army loves to go to other’s wars for the sake of money and that they act like mercenaries. It is hard to backup this impression with a valid fact. On the contrary, when Serbians were mass raping, torturing and murdering Bosnians, Pakistan helped Bosnia with weapons worth 20 million dollars and did not ask back for a single penny. Radio Bosnia has announced it with gratitude and had it not been this help, Bosnia would probably not exist today. Helping one another at state level is nothing new and Pakistan is not alone in this.
In 1988, when the President of Maldives, Maumoon Abdul Qayoom faced a coup attempt led by Peopl’s Liberation Oragnization of Temil Elam, India immediately sent some 1700 members of its special forces and restored Maumoon’s presidency, making Maldives a long-lasting friend.
Now touching specifically the fire show in Yemen, the day KSA and its allies launched ‘Decisive Storm’ against Houthis, Saudis had an undeniable living asset in form of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in their shelter who was not asking for help from the Arabs but international community as well. Unlike Egypt whose presidency was ran over by unarmed citizens ousting Hosni Mubarak, it was a trained militia funded by Iran. This conundrum became more riddled when our defense minister started a quick lip service in favor of KSA without the support of a real conviction. Even though Pakistan is not part of the Persian Gulf but our reliance and relations on and with the GCC have been as important as Iran’s own role in the whole scenario. Any such situation demands some nerves of steel, excellent diplomacy and sound decision making in the very best interest of the nation. Where Iranian foreign minister was running from pillar to pole, in order to form new alliances to counter the GCC position over Yemen, there; Nawaz Sharif government failed miserably in the diplomatic arena by acquiescing to the dilatory tactics. His deliberated lip service but procrastinated move, led everyone to confusion even though; he had received enough signals from different diplomatic channels urging him to take a side. He hurriedly took the issue to parliament to save his own skin from opposition, especially Imran khan; who was desperately in search of another chance to settle the score. Nawaz Sharif found himself caught on the wrong foot because of his own personal ties with the Kingdome. Till now, the confused stance of the government may not worry the GCC only, rather everyone who considers us as an ally as they may take us perfidious in the near future.
We do have our reasons to question KSA, UAE and Qatar on the issue of banned outfits and their interference in Gawadar but choosing KSA over Iran could’ve been a straight decision for a number of reasons. Iran, if not is an enemy is neither a friend after the Khomenai revolution. They too have been funding insurgency in Pakistan. Their encroachment and insurgency in Baluchistan is not a secret, neither their nexus with India for Chahbahar is.
Fifty millions of Pakistanis are working in the GCC and not in Iran and that the government has no plan to offer anything to these expatriates. It is not a proxy war anymore but a conflict for which UN has imposed an arms embargo on the Houthis and above all, there is no ground offensive but air blitz only. KSA and its allies probably know that insurgency is cheap to rise but expensive to quash. In such case, few Pakistan Navy ships could’ve been sent to help KSA in their coastal barricade to prevent weapons smuggling into the Houthis hands from was not that expensive in return of what we could gain diplomatically. There was enough time to have joined the collation according to our terms. To be frank, being trustworthy means a lot, US don’t trust us, European Union don’t like us, Chinese are weary and we just lost the GCC camp. The issue may not be helping someone, but the real concern should be that, at which position we would find ourselves; if our relations deteriorated with the GCC? Who would love to bail us out after ditching friends for whom we were supposed to cut the cloth more than the coat? And what if tomorrow we faced a challenge in our neighborhood; we shall be expecting who to take a side with us? The plain truth is that we cannot practice our foreign policy out of fear of the KSA and Iranian sympathizers, and it is more worrisome than anything else. There may be a strong resentment against Arabs and some of the reasons for that are valid as well but this government has got more to fear from friends than enemies both internally and externally.
It was Nawaz Sharif who first took free oil worth 2 Billion dollars after his government detonated the nuclear device at Chaghi; it was Nawaz Sharif who took refuge in KSA for 7 years after he inked a deal with Musharraf and as if that was not enough, it was Nawaz who asked for 1.5 billion dollars from Saudi Arabia to rejuvenate the dwindling state of economy. The cash injection boosted reserve figures and helped the rupee rise to a nine-month high against the greenback of Rs97.40 from 105.40 against the dollar between March 4 and 12. This was the strongest rally of the rupee in 30 years for which the credit goes to KSA and not to Ishaq Dar. And even if we are to go beyond Nawaz era, Wasn’t it Libya back in the 80s who funneled billions of dollars to Pakistan to help it become nuclear? Wasn’t it the same Libya who sold to Pakistan 50 Mirage Fighter jets and 150 engines on a very economical price in 2004? Wasn’t it Jordan who sold to us 13 F-16s just a year ago again on a very economical price?
Why the same parliament did not vote unilaterally to return the 1.5 billion dollar ‘gift’ from the friends, if the same parliament finds it more moral to stay neutral? The nature of this conflict is such that Pakistan can neither chose a side nor it can afford to lose a side. But, Pakistan must not declare quarantine on its own self. Leaving behind all alone may not be sanity as well. Our government must understand that what is offer for free is dangerous as it usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for. By paying our own way, we stay clear out of gratitude, guilt and deceit. It is often wise to pay the full price. If it is time to pay, better to pay it this time once and for all and get rid of the heavy cost of free lunch.
(First published in The Fault Lines)
I can write about the capabilities of the 200 million 'strong' nation some other time ...this time ...I choose why the **** Nawaz Sharif pass the buck over such a sensitive issue 
