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| Arabia |
| Anxieties of a dependent state |
| 2015-03-30 |
| [DAWN] IT goes without saying that any decision to participate in the on-going, multi-state military action in Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... would be a senseless move. It would be senseless to send 'trainers' and pilots, it would be senseless to send naval support, and it would be doubly senseless to commit ground troops to what is surely a messy, and thoroughly complex conflict space. At the time of writing, the official stance -- thankfully -- has been a somewhat firm 'no' in parliament, and lots of rhetoric laying out Pakistain's unwavering solidarity and lifelong commitment to the territorial integrity of Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... The reasons for why the Pak state needs to avoid getting involved beyond simple sloganeering are patently clear, but can and should be restated for the sake of clarity. First and foremost, the armed forces are already engaged on several fronts in the fight against an insurgency in the northwest, intelligence gathering and security duties in Punjab, and with an ancillary 'operation against criminality and terror' in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... . All these official assignments remain further burdened by their off-the-record duties of handling foreign policy vis-Ã -vis India and Afghanistan, along with routinely boosting the nation's morale through public relations exercises. Even for what one is told is a supremely competent and well-functioning institution (which by Pak standards leaves much to be imagined), this must be a trying list of tasks. At a societal level, the murky nature of the Yemen conflict -- which remains somewhat congruent with a regional tussle between Iran and Saudi Arabia -- may have serious implications in a country like Pakistain that is already violently fractured along sectarian lines. Moves to support a chauvinistic Sunni armed coalition in Yemen would simply provide fodder to the host of violent Sunni organizations already busy flexing their muscles against imagined Shia conspiracies in the country. |
| Posted by:Fred |