Ms. Bhutto’s assassination and American hubris

By: Javed I. Chaudry

It is a sad state of affairs but Pakistan has certainly turned into a society of extremists. There are many factors responsible for the existing chaos and lawlessness. With the existing socio-economic conditions along with the instability created by the US foreign policies in the region, the assassination of Ms. Bhutto was thought to be inevitable by many. The return of Ms. Benazir Bhutto from exile after 8 years had serious implications for the Pakistani political landscape.

Her exile is often dubbed as ‘self imposed’, which it was not. She had charges against her and her husband, Asif Zardari, for robbing the country and padding up their foreign bank accounts. It is commonly thought that she returned to Pakistan recently while riding Uncle Sam’s shoulders. It is at this point that the Musharraf government decided to allow the other exiled leader of opposition, Mr. Sharif, to return to Pakistan to ensure a strong opposition to Ms. Bhutto and her party.

While some considered Ms. Bhutto an icon of democracy for Pakistan, others took her to be another American puppet, to be installed in Pakistan under the guise of electoral system. After receiving her support from Washington, she was too bold to give statements against Al-Quida and war on terror. She certainly appeared very much out of place and unrealistic when she started making promises of fighting against terror and delivering more than what Gen. Musharraf could. She had certainly underestimated the influence of Talibanization and extremism in the country, which was in its infancy while she was the PM of the country two decades ago.

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan during 1980s was the starting point of Jihadi mindset and extremism. The American invasion since 2001, has provided all the ingredients to flourish and for strengthening that mindset. With the existing strong sentiments in Pakistan against America and the participating NATO countries in Afghanistan, it was basically suicidal for Ms. Bhutto to favor American policies so openly and forcefully. Ms. Bhutto was seen as preparing to fight against those, who were fighting against the American aggression and terrorism in the region. Many rallies arranged by Ms. Bhutto’s party met with suicidal bombings, or needed extraordinary security measures for her protection while other political parties did not experience similar threat. The explanation is simple and obvious; Ms. Bhutto was seen as an American puppet. A political affiliation with America is not seen as a desirable attribute in that part of the world after what the current American regime has done in various Muslim countries since 9/11. No matter how we cut it, the responsibility of the current chaos in the region goes back to Washington and its foreign policies.

The armed forces of Pakistan draw a major portion of its manpower from the Punjab and NWF (North West Frontier) provinces. Ms. Bhutto comes from the southern province, Sind, where she enjoyed a strong support. In other provinces, only the feudal lords provided her with their support in the hope to share power after getting her elected to the office. The average middle class citizens of the provinces of Punjab and NWF saw her as an American Agent. Furthermore, the Talibanization has extremely strong influence in the North and North West areas of Pakistan. These are the territories, which used be part of Afghanistan until the Durand Line was drawn by the British in late 19^th century. The territories west of the Durand Line eventually became part of Pakistan in 1947. It is this area that has been difficult to control by both Pakistani army as well as by the NATO forces against the so called war on terror. The war on terror is hardly any thing more than the American aggression against those who will not submit to Washington’s will.

It took 10 years for the Soviets to learn their lesson, The Americans have been in Afghanistan for six years, they have made no praiseworthy progress so far. They have however, caused plenty of death and destruction in the region. This act is also considered responsible for spreading terrorism and extremism in Pakistan – a process that was initiated by CIA in mid 1970s causing the subsequent Soviet invasion of Afghanistan that went on until 1989. The message has been totally lost on the present Washington regime that there will be no peace in the region until the American and NATO forces leave.

Ms. Bhutto’s strong statements against the war on terror was only a natural act from her perspective to provide reassurance of her loyalty to her promoters in Washington. But unfortunately, it appears that her pledge to Washington, may have became the cause for her assassination.