By Sajjad Shaukat*

In the last few days, when the heavy-armed Taliban entered Dir, Buner and other adjoining areas, US-led western leaders and their media left no stone unturned in exaggerating the Talibinisation of whole Pakistan and underestimating the capabilities of Pakistan’s armed forces in coping with the rising threat. Quite opposite to the ground realities as witnessed by the successful military operations which flushed majority of the Taliban out of Dir, Buner and other adjoining areas, West’s misperceptions could be judged from the presumed statements of US and European high officials who have recently been remarking that Taliban’s advancement in other regions beyond Swat, especially 60 miles from the capital will result in total control of Pakistan by these extremists who will also captured the nuclear weapons, endangering the security of the West, and probably the whole world.

On April 22, 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that Taliban “advances pose “an existential threat” to Pakistan. On April 23, she warned that Pakistan had dispersed its nuclear weapons throughout the country, increasing the risks that they could fall into the hands of terrorists. Next day, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen expressed similar ill-conceived thoughts, indicating: “We’re certainly moving closer to the tipping point” where Pakistan could be overtaken by extremists. On the same day, the FOX News reported that General David Petraeus, Commander of US Central Command had also told US officials that the next two weeks “are critical in determining whether the Pakistani government will survive.” It further elaborated his views that Pakistanis have run out of excuses—US expects concrete actions from Islamabad in order to combat Taliban before determining America’s next course of action. There are also similarity between his remarks and those of the President Barack Obama who revealed same feelings on April 30, though in some positive tone, pointing out that he was gravely concerned about the stability of the Pakistani government, but was confident that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal would not fall into the hands of the Taliban.

As regards the new move of Taliban, on May 3, New York Times reported that the spread of “the insurgency has left American officials less willing to accept blanket assurances from Pakistan that the weapons are safe.”

Unlike the former Bush era, propaganda against Pakistan is not particularly coffined to America, even other western countries have started joining the chorus. For example, on May 1, France’s new special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Pierre Lellouche, while showing concerns about the Taliban’s advancement towards Islamabad, and while ignoring the success achieved by the new military operations in the affected areas, stated that Pakistan is at “crossroads”, further saying that the country faced an “existential question” about its future.

Although, since 9/11 persecution of the Muslim community in America and Europe have continued unabated under the pretext of war on terror, yet it has intensified now, mainly focusing Pakistani nationals as part of a deliberate policy to distort the image of our country in the world. In this connection, on April 9, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, while talking in relation to the arrest of 12 Pakistani students who were allegedly arrested by the UK police with the charge that they were planning a terror attack in the Britain, disclosed that a dangerous plot had been foiled, linked to Pakistan. But afterwards, British authorities released the students as they did not find any evidence against them.

We cannot analyse west’s misperceptions regarding the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear assets and Talibinisation of our country in isolation because there is a co-relationship of a number of other related-dimensions as part of the same anti-Pakistan move which has now been accelerated. Besides, western leaders, their various thinktanks’ reports and media have intermittently raising various allegations against Islamabad. Sometimes, they allege that Pakistan’s army and its spy agency, ISI have secret links with the Afghan Taliban, sometimes, they accuse that top leaders of Al Qaeda have taken shelter in Pakistan’s FATA areas and sometimes, they blame that white Europeans are being imparted terror training in the tribal regions of Pakistan. Recently, President Obama has reiterated that Al-Qaeda’s terrorists have safe-havens in Pakistan’s tribal areas from where they could plan an attack on America and Europe. Even Great Britain also shared this American misperception.

As regards the foreign rumours in relation to Talibanisation of Pakistan and possession of nuclear weapons by the extremists, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Quereshi has recently indicated that foreign countries have been creating panic.

So far as the potential of Pak army is concerned, it has re-captured 80% regions from the Taliban within some days, and Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are in quite safe hands. In this respect, taking notice of the biased global concerns, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) held a special meeting. And after the meeting, ISPR spokesman, Major General Athar Abbas said on April 30 that the JCSC expressed satisfaction over the progress of operations in Lower Dir, Buner and adjoining areas, and extended the government’s writ in these areas. He further pointed out that the JCSC strongly dismissed the undue alarm being raised by the western media about the insecurity of nuclear weapons, emphasizing that Pakistan’s nuclear assets are in the robust custodial controls and are in safe hands.

It is notable that there are a number of countries in the world, which do not compromise their interests with those of Washington, perennially opposing the American agenda. Despite it, Obama Administration is very lenient and wants to resolve its issues with them through diplomacy. First, Iran is determined to go ahead with the development of its nuclear programme without caring for the US opposition. Second, Syria and Hamas-related militants and Lebanon-based Hezbollah do not come under pressure of the US in connection with Lebanon and Palestine. Third, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez who is a frequent critic of the US administration called the ex-US President Bush “the devil” and a “tyrant” on September 24, 2006. And in 2008, Chavez refused to abide by the US dictates regarding oil supply. As these entities possess no nuclear arms, there is no immediate American threat or western propaganda against them.

Surprisingly, North Korea which conducted a nuclear test on October 7, 2006 rejected UN resolution of sanctions. Recently, Pyongyang not only suspended peace talks, renouncing the previous agreement with Washington, but also conducted long-range missile test without bothering for America.

It is of particular attention that India possesses larger arsenals and is also increasing their destructive power including the development of long-range nuclear missiles. In the recent past, solid evidence has surprised the international community in relation to the existence of Hindu terrorism. In this context, Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra arrested a serving Lt. Col. Srikant Purohit and a retired army Major Samir Kulkarniand who confessed that they were involved in helping train the Hindu terrorists and provided them with the military-grade explosive RDX, used in bombings of various Indian cities entailing the September 29, 2008 bombings of Malegaon. The investigations further revealed the confession of Lt. Col. Purohit for the bombing of Samjhota express which brunt alive 69 Pakistanis, while indicating close ties of the Indian army officials with prominent politicians of BJP, VHP, RSS and Bajrang Dal, who have been pressurizing New Delhi to release the arrested persons. However, the enquiry still remains pending. The assassination of Indian Anti-Terrorism Squad Chief Hemant Karkare in Mumbai during terror attacks also verified these links.

It is mentionable that in December, 2006, a container packed with radioactive material had been stolen from an Indian fortified research atomic facility near Mumbai, and it was never found out.

Nevertheless, all these alarming developments give rise to the fact that Hindu terrorists could obtain the nuclear weapons with the help of Indian army officers and its secret agency, RAW. And they will use them in the US and Europe so as to show that Pakistani activists have performed this nefarious job.

As Pakistan is the only Islamic country, having nuclear weapons, so setting aside other nuclear and non-nuclear states, Islamabad has become special target of America, India and Israel and their secret agencies which have not only supporting insurgency in FATA and Balochistan for their other covert strategic goals but has also intensified campaign on the world level to further gain the sympathies of other western counties by propagating that Taliban can take over the country, possessing Pak nuclear assets.

It is noteworthy that before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, America and some of its western allies had started a deliberate propaganda campaign on world level, based upon presumptions that Saddam Hussein-led regime of Baghdad had Weapons of Mass Destructions (WMDs) and hence it is posing a threat to the US and Eueope. Afterwards Iraq was thrown in an era of insecurity and no such weapons were found till now. At present, similar formula is at work against our country reflecting misperceptions of the west against Pakistan.

Ongoing drastic situation demands a strong sense of unity among our politicians, security forces and general masses to thwart the sinister designs of the external enemies against Pakistan.

* He writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations
Email: sajjad_logic@yahoo.com

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