War on Terror this Year

Given the disarray and anarchy in Pakistan and the failure of the civilian government to assert its supremacy over the military establishment, especially the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), questions pertaining to the war on terror have become all the more important. Globally acknowledged as the epicentre of jihadi terrorism, Pakistan continues to maintain double standard on terrorism such as in the expedient classification of terrorists into ‘good’ and ‘bad’. In that scheme, anti-India outfits like the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), groomed by the ISI to bleed India, are ‘good’ organizations and must be protected and sustained in the best possible manner. Hence the sprouting of ‘charity’ entities like the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), another name for the LeT and headed by LeT founder Hafiz Sayeed. They are free to operate in Pakistan, patronized as they are by the establishment in various ways. On the other hand, due to the compulsion to take on the Taliban who wield power over vast swathes of land in the lawless North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and who are now baying for the blood of their own master, the ISI, Pakistan has categorized them as ‘bad’ terrorists. But what is interesting is that even the Taliban are divided into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ classes depending on how they respond to the ISI’s overtures. In other words, Pakistan has made a huge joke out of its pompously claimed war on terror; since the war is selective, Pakistan naturally qualifies to be branded as a terror-sponsoring country despite its confrontation with the Talibanic variety of terrorism.

What is the way out then? How should the comity of nations deal with the international problem called Pakistan this year? It all boils down to what the US will do. It needs to be transparent about what it intends to do with Pakistan. There is no gainsaying the fact that if the US were to mount pressure on the ISI and told it in no uncertain terms that it must change its course or else it would face the music (why, did not Washington warn Islamabad in the wake of the 9/11 attack that Pakistan would be bombed to the Stone Age if it did not support the war on the Taliban-Al Qaeda combine?), the notorious spy agency would have had its wings clipped long ago. That did not happen. That is still not happening, even in the aftermath of Mumbai 26/11. The fact of the matter is that unless the ISI is reined in, Pakistan will continue to remain, and rather flourish as, the world capital of terrorism. It is here that Washington has to play its role. It must compel Pakistan, which it can, to dismantle the ISI-designed terror infrastructure in totality. But Washington should also be prepared to face some inconvenient questions. After all, was not the ISI one of the greatest assets for the US during the Cold War era? Would the ISI assume its present form had it not been for the US’ tacit approval of the agency’s intents and manoeuvres?

Secondly, since India is the worst victim of the ISI-sponsored terrorism, New Delhi should reach out to like-minded partners and evolve a tangible global platform to expose Pakistan’s shenanigans and pressurize it to act on the ‘stateless’ actors — to quote Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari — who in reality are very much part of that wondrous state and enjoy a very special treatment for their jihad against ‘infidels’ like us Indians. Far too often must India now spread the word that the Pakistani military establishment is itself a terror factory. Let India be more assertive and send out the message that the war on terror this year cannot be allowed to remain a farce as it has indeed remained all these years. And let thereby the US get the right message too. THE SENTINEL