FRIEND OR FOE?

Lieutenant General Talat Masood may be retired from the Pakistan Army, but he sounds a fair warning to General Petraeus and his incoming Commander-in-Chief.

In an opinion piece published in the Daily Times, Lieutenant-General Masood warns that the Obama administration needs to “review on priority its policy of frequent incursions into Pakistan’s territory. Missile strikes on Pakistani soil have to stop, otherwise mistrust and alienation between allies would grow and discredit the war on terror.”

“The US, Pakistan and Afghanistan are supposedly allies but are pushing their problems into each other’s laps. The US wants to fight an open-ended war in Afghanistan to ward off a potential threat to its mainland. The logic being that it is better to fight the war in Afghanistan than in the American homeland...

“ Pakistan is less concerned about the militants that are fighting in Afghanistan. Afghanistan, too, is keen to have the centre of gravity of regional radicalism shift to Pakistan. It should realise that the role of insurgents in Afghanistan is far greater than in FATA. ... Pakistan is wary of India’s growing influence in the region and that adds another area of friction in US-Pakistan and Pakistan-India relations. The American and Indian media has deliberately projected an extensive role of the ISI in Afghanistan. This is an exaggerated and erroneous assessment that has contributed to the creation of a hostile impression about the agency. By projecting such agencies and the military in a bad light, the US pushes Pakistan on the defensive and demands that we ‘do more’.”

President Zardari made the case to US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and  foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq stated that the attacks are “in violation of international law and in violation of all understandings between the two sides" and Islamabad is “committed to do whatever is possible to stop these attacks”.