| Submit your comments on this article |
| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistani Frontier offensive only a beginning: Haqqani |
| 2008-07-02 |
| The ongoing Pakistani offensive in the NWFP is just an example of what lies in store for extremists who challenge the nation's new government militarily, Pakistani Ambassador to United States Husain Haqqani said in an interview published here on Tuesday. He told the Washington Times that several more such actions are planned for the Afghan border area in the coming days to demonstrate to the world the new government's commitment to fighting the Taliban and other extremist groups. Legitimate: He said the new plan to deal with extremists and radicals would have far greater legitimacy and effectiveness because it had been drafted and approved by a democratically elected government. He said the first operation, launched in the Khyber Agency on Saturday, had achieved its "basic objective" by destroying bases and safe houses belonging to Lashkar-e-Islam chief Mangal Bagh in Bara, though the militant leader was not caught. "The Pakistani military has been given the job and task of ensuring that there will be no flow of Taliban fighters from Pakistan into Afghanistan," Haqqani added. He said the new government might take longer to reach a decision than when President Pervez Musharraf dominated the political landscape, but that its policies were more likely to stick. "There's a difference between a drift and a transition," he explained. "Making decisions is a slightly lengthier process than it was when one person could make it. But the upside to it is that once the decision is made, it has national support and consensus." Failure: Haqqani also faulted aspects of US policy towards the region in the days after the September 11, 2001, attacks, saying there has been a "complete failure" of American public diplomacy in Pakistan and the Muslim world to explain and defend US objectives and interests in the global war on terrorism. He said the obsession with security after September 11 had damaged the country's image abroad, sometimes in ways Americans do not appreciate. "You would not believe how small things help [Al Qaeda chief Osama] Bin Laden," Haqqani said. "Every time a significant, respectable Pakistani is humiliated at an American airport, despite having a valid visa, the story doesn't even make it into your papers, but it's the biggest story of the day in Pakistan." The Pakistani envoy was critical of the fact that US diplomats are not permitted to live with their families in Pakistan. He observed that there were security problems during the Cold War, but American diplomats showed greater courage, adding that even during the Vietnam War, diplomats stayed until the fall of Saigon. He said US diplomats in Pakistan " don't go out very much. They stay in the capital. There is a very quick rotation”. Haqqani said he suspected that US travel warnings about visiting Pakistan are frequently the result of a fear of lawsuits from unsuspecting Americans who might encounter trouble on their trips. "The State Department has to issue these sweeping warnings so that nobody sues them," he added. |
| Posted by:Fred |