Pakistan | A Week in the Headlines

Peering at Pakistan Flickr photo by rchughtai under the Creative Commons. An American delegation in Pakistan—Senator Levin (D-MI) and Senator Casey (D-PA), who were later joined by Senator Nelson (D-FL) (on a five-day trip to Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Germany), Senator Feingold (D-WN) and another delegation comprising three members of the US House of Representatives, led by Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) with Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), and Congressman Wayne Gilchrest (R - MD)—took over many of the national headlines. Despite some conspiracy theories of a pro-Musharraf agenda, the delegations and the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad identified terrorism, democracy, the economy, and an increased understanding of Pakistan as part of the “periodical Congressional assessment of the situation in the region” (The Nation). Amidst assurances by the Senators that they were not there to wield influence on the new government, Senator Feingold spoke out about the restoration of the judges, linking it to the return of the rule of law and urging the Bush administration to speak out about the matter. Senator Levin expressed his lack of confidence in the Pakistani military’s capacity to stop the flow of militants across the border, regardless of what the Pakistani government says it will accomplish through peace talks. There is growing concern about the increase in militants—acknowledged by both Taleban and Western sources—crossing into Afghanistan in response to the Pakistani military’s scaled-down forces. Senator Levin believes Congress should rethink its allocation of funds (restricting $70 million) to the Frontier Corps, who he views as unwilling to do their job as “border patrol” and as possible collaborators with the Taleban (according to some intelligence). Senator Nelson took a harder line than Levin, calling for the United States to consider air strikes in Pakistan if the government and military fails to show more progress. The Post in Pakistan ran the story as follows: “ US Senator For Strikes on Pak Soil.” The NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani countered the Senators’ statements, explaining that “Pakistan is determined to stop militants crossing its border to fight Western troops in Afghanistan and is activating tribal leaders to squeeze out the militants.” Reports surfaced that a new deal between the Pakistani government and a small militant group led by Umar Khalid emerged in response to a pledge for the militants to not target security and government officials. It seems the Senators are not seeing the progress they would hope for and do not trust the Pakistanis to do what they say; however it would appear disadvantageous for the Pakistani military to aid the Taleban. Questioning the Frontier Corps’ commitment to furthering Pakistan and American military interests is warranted. However, I also question how possible it is that the Pakistan military has such little control over the Frontier Corps that whatever help it is potentially providing the Taleban is substantial enough to make a difference. The Pakistan government is going to do whatever it can to ensure the agreements reached in the peace talks will stay in place in order to prove their credibility to the tribal leaders, Pakistanis, and the United States. Whether they are capable of ensuring the peace talks will produce results is still questionable, but PCR Project Co-Directors Rick Barton and Karin von Hippel seemed confident the NWFP governor was a leader capable of producing change and there have been no reports of new suicide bombs to-date (the retaliation to the U.S. attack last week excluded). In political news, the PPP presented its 62-point constitutional package (aimed at reducing the presidents’ power and moving forward on the question of the judiciary) to the PML-N. Most points were agreed upon except the issue of the judges’ reinstatement. Nawaz Sharif claimed the coalition will remove President Musharraf, although a decision was not announced by the PPP and a Musharraf spokesman denied such reports. The Daily Times points to Sharif’s demand for the reinstatement of the judges to be separated from the constitutional package as a major source of contention. In other news, the government announced the shelving of the controversial Kalabagh Dam project (the construction of Kalabagh Dam "involved stakeholders of local provincial governments who expressed their dissatisfaction towards the adverse impacts of the dam"). There are grumblings about U.S. “violations of airspace,” including spy planes over North Waziristan. Debates surrounding Pakistan ’s nuclear capabilities surfaced on the 10th anniversary of the first nuclear test, with some arguing the focus on nuclear weapons takes away from debate on the real-life problems Pakistanis face.