Obama and Pakistan

Most Pakistanis seem to have reacted positively to Barack Obama8217;s election as president of the United States.

Most Pakistanis seem to have reacted positively to Barack Obama8217;s election as president of the United States. His proposal to appoint former president Bill Clinton as special envoy on Kashmir seems to have pleased Pakistan. According to a report in The News, analysts like General Talat Masood have welcomed theidea. Others like Shirin Mazari seem pessimistic, since in their eyes Obama has only mooted such a proposal for fulfilling America8217;s interests in the region.

Meanwhile Dawn November 6 reports that 8220; President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani have congratulated US President-elect Senator Barack Obama on his victory and expressed the hope that the US would 8216;continue to be a source of global peace8230;8217;8221;

Nation November 7 reports 8220; In a bid to bring a shift in current American policy for Pakistan, Islamabad has decided to activate its diplomatic channels to reach out to newly elected US President Barack Obama even before his taking oath of the office in January 20098221;.

Ijaz Ahsan in an opinion piece in The Nation commends the US for its system of democracy and urges Pakistani politicians to learn something from their American counterparts. Says Ahsan 8220;Obama8217;s election shows the beauty of democracy. In contrast in our country, every so often a man comes in, throws the country8217;s laws into the dustbin, and keeps the people under his heel with the force of arms8230; In our present anarchy, the over thirty years of lawlessness of repeated periods of martial law has been the biggest factor. If we wish to progress as a nation, our politicians should not fight each other8230; so that the army does not get an excuse to intervene again8230;8221;

Explosions

Dawn November 6 reports: At least two security personnel were killed and several others injured when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a building housing Frontier Corps men near the Swat police lines on Thursday night. Dawn November 6 in another report states: 8220; A suicide bomber blew himself up at a jirga in the Bajaur tribal region on Thursday, killing 16 people and injuring 31 others.According to eyewitnesses, the powerful blast took place in Batmali area, northeast of Khar, when elders of the Salarzai tribe were discussing formation of a lashkar to force Taliban militants out of the area. Over 150 were attending the jirga8221;. Meanwhile Gen David H Petraeus, the new chief of US Central Command defended US missile strikes in Pakistan8217;s tribal areas. The Nation November 7 quotes him as saying: 8220; US missile strikes in Pakistan8217;s tribal areas in recent months have killed three of the top 20 extremist leaders there, causing a blow to insurgents threatening nuclear-armed Pakistan8217;s very existence8221;.

Ayaz Amir in an opinion piece in The News November 7 dubs the behaviour of the Pakistani establishment towards Petraeus as obseqious. Says Amir: 8220;Gen Petraeus was recently in Islamabad8230; The photos of his meetings in Islamabad deserve careful scrutiny as his manner and smile 8212; he was smiling on all occasions 8212; were an exercise in imperial condescension. Here he is with Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar who apart from looking clearly out of his depth is trying bravely to smile but looks ill at ease. Here he is with Prime Minister Gilani, not just holding him by the hand but, in a gesture meant to be courteous but which becomes condescending, holding on to his shoulder with his other hand. The PM too is trying bravely to smile and manages to look ill at ease.8221;