More goodies for Pervez

Coming as it does so soon after the US declaring Pakistan a major military ally, President Bush’s waiver of sanctions imposed after the 1999 military coup, smacks of a lack of principle or consistency in American policy. The logic, of course, is that this would facilitate the transition to democratic rule in Pakistan. If this was the only reason, then it should have come soon after the elections last year, despite their obvious limitations. More important, perhaps, is the second part of the stated reason that lifting sanctions are important for the US war against terrorism; a war that has stalled badly because of shifting priorities in Washington.

There is an obvious political signal in the policy shift at this stage to indicate strong support for the military-dominated regime in Islamabad. Pakistan’s much-publicised military operation — including the use of US-supplied helicopter gunships and combat aircraft — in Waziristan in the southern reaches of the North West Frontier Province to decimate the Al-Qaeda has ground to a halt with substantial casualties to army and paramilitary forces, both in direct attacks as well as through the ambushing of army convoys. The militants are engaged in a counter-offensive that goes as far as placing Peshawar under rocket attack.

Opposition parties in parliament were up in arms last Thursday demanding an immediate pullout. They compare the situation to the army crackdown in East Pakistan, which had taken place 33 years ago. The Al-Qaeda’s second most powerful man, Ayman al-Zawahiri — the assumed “high value” target in the area who had probably moved out months ago — has called for a jihad against Pakistan. The ulema in Pakistan have issued a fatwa to deny any soldier killed in this operation the status of shuhada (martyr). The government, on the other hand, is promising to expand the operations. The US had earlier granted a five-year $5 billion loan and waived off $1.5 billion in debts. Given the perilous position of the Musharraf regime, the US move would come as a relief to Pakistan, although it does not seem to have evoked any great enthusiasm at the popular level.