Isolation once again

The US Senate’s decision to hold back financing for the eight F-16 fighter jets that we intend to purchase shows the typical American approach – ie finding a scapegoat for its policy failures in Afghanistan. It seems history is repeating itself. The US is again planning to lay its hands off the region as it did after the Soviet withdrawal in 1988. In 1989, the Pressler Amendment had blocked all US military aid to Pakistan. By maintaining a hold on the US subsidy for the jets, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker has acted in a similar fashion.

The US cannot absolve itself of the mess created in this region chiefly because of its policies. The Haqqanis and other such networks were created in the 1980s with the tacit support of the CIA, and Pakistan was only a tool in those shenanigans. We have suffered, and are still suffering, while the US walked off unscathed. This hands-off style of the US will not only damage Pakistan, but will be damaging to the US as well. Pakistan has cleared its area of militant sanctuaries and paid heavily for that action. It is time the US and its ally – the Afghan government – played their part in bringing peace to the region. Simply blaming Pakistan for their inabilities and inaction won’t work anymore. The real problem lies in Afghanistan and it will only be resolved by engaging all stakeholders in a peace dialogue.

Kamran Arshad Satti

Rawalpindi