What should be our Pakistan policy?
M. Orhan Tarhan
May 17, 2009
Pakistan is now the most burning and the most dangerous foreign policy problem faced by the Obama government. We must understand the problem, we must define it correctly so that we may come up with the correct policies.
What kind of people are the Pakistanis? Some British-educated people are good enough to make the atomic bomb , but the majority are ignorant. The literacy is given as 35 % but it is not clear how they define Literacy. Most schools are Madrassas , where youngsters ( only boys) study the Koran in Arabic. Pakistanis have their own languages, that contain many Arabic words, but they could not understand the Arabic texts of the 7th Century Koran. Thus, they study something they do not understand.
This of course cannot be called education. In 1970, all Pakistani educational institutions were nationalized by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto but these reforms were called :A drop in the bucket". The youngsters get a thorough brain-washing and leave the Madrassa without the slightest knowledge they can use to live in the 21st century. I heard President Musharraf say that he built some secular schools, but they too were "a drop in the bucket"
The lives of this uneducated mass are guided mainly by religion. Unlike Christianity, Islam is a complete way of life. The combination of ignorance and this kind of "Total" religion creates an intolerant and anti-Western population. Extremist Mullahs fill these people with hatred toward the non-Muslims, especially towards the West
After 9/11, U.S. forces had defeated the Taliban, but soon enough President Bush concentrated our military forces in Iraq and gave the Taliban time to resurrect and build significant forces in Afghanistan. Now American plus NATO forces together are having a hard time containing them. Now the Taliban is beginning to occupy part of Pakistan. The Democratic leaders of Pakistan behave like pussy cats in stead of facing them and chasing them out. The Pakistani army is at the Indian border. And the rest is too week to deal with the Taliban. The Democratic government in Islamabad made agreements with the Governor of the Swat Valley, that is 100 miles from Islamabad. If he would control the Taliban, the Government would accept that the strict version of sharia be implemented in that province. They are leaving this province without a fight. That is partial surrender. But the Governor did not keep his word. He did not control the Taliban. Last week the Taliban came to Buner, that is only 60 miles from Islamabad. However, as soon as the agreement was announced, all professional women, such as doctors and nurses ,and most of the other woman population left the province.
The ruling party and the Army are afraid more from India than from the Taliban Pakistan has a half-million Army deployed along the India border. That is easy. Counter insurgency is tough. That is unbelievable. Since when do armies are given a choice of that kind? Donīt they understand that they are facing an existential threat? If they delay some more in moving their army from the border with India, they may not have any country to defend.
These events worry President Obama and his administration, because if the Taliban should take the rest of Pakistan, their nuclear force ( about 100 nuclear heads ) will get into the Talibanīs hands, that plans to share it with Al Qaeda. It will create very serious problems for the U.S and for the West in general.
In one respect, we the U.S., are partly responsible for this bad result. Our governments have never learned that democracy required educated peoples, that there can be no democracy for an ignorant population. We had several fiascos lately because of this ignorance of our politicians. There was a pretty good government in Palestine. We insisted on democracy and got Hamas. In Iraq we insisted in democracy, the elected parliament could not function for years. In Egypt, President Mubarak has been doing a good job, There too we insisted on democracy. Mubarak refused it, because he knew that democracy would bring the Muslim Brothers and Egypt would become for us enemy territory. All these fiascos should have been enough to learn a lesson. We did not, We pushed Musharraf out. Now we have democracy. We really deserved this result.
The Obama government is planning to offer counterinsurgency training to Pakistanīs troops outside of Pakistan. They do not want to see any American boots in Pakistan. The U.S. is trying to find funding for it and a country that will accept our "boots". The Chief of General Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen is "alarmed".
Pakistanīs fundamental problems cannot be solved over night, even if the right measures are taken. It will still take over a long time. For now we should do our best to keep the peace there. But we should begin to help Pakistan the right way.
The best thing we can do for them in the long run is to educate them, to bring them to the 21st century. We should build in Pakistan as many secular schools as possible, in which the Pakistani language, mathematics, sciences, world history and geography, and at 12th grade, philosophy are taught. At the same time we should get the Pakistani government to close the madrassas, so that their buildings can be used in building secular schools. When enough graduates of secular schools are available, Pakistan will stop being a problem for the world.
But , will there be time left to educate them? Just today there were reports of Pakistani troops attacking the Taliban to free Buner. There is no word of these troopsī strength. We should do all we can to save Pakistan as a sane country, but if most of the Army still remains stuck at the border with India, and the Taliban takes over everything., we must now take all the precautions to assure the safety of the nuclear arsenal , and if that does not work, we should be prepared to deny nuclear armsto the Taliban, not in words, but with deeds. Anything else would be suicide.
What kind of people are the Pakistanis? Some British-educated people are good enough to make the atomic bomb , but the majority are ignorant. The literacy is given as 35 % but it is not clear how they define Literacy. Most schools are Madrassas , where youngsters ( only boys) study the Koran in Arabic. Pakistanis have their own languages, that contain many Arabic words, but they could not understand the Arabic texts of the 7th Century Koran. Thus, they study something they do not understand.
This of course cannot be called education. In 1970, all Pakistani educational institutions were nationalized by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto but these reforms were called :A drop in the bucket". The youngsters get a thorough brain-washing and leave the Madrassa without the slightest knowledge they can use to live in the 21st century. I heard President Musharraf say that he built some secular schools, but they too were "a drop in the bucket"
The lives of this uneducated mass are guided mainly by religion. Unlike Christianity, Islam is a complete way of life. The combination of ignorance and this kind of "Total" religion creates an intolerant and anti-Western population. Extremist Mullahs fill these people with hatred toward the non-Muslims, especially towards the West
After 9/11, U.S. forces had defeated the Taliban, but soon enough President Bush concentrated our military forces in Iraq and gave the Taliban time to resurrect and build significant forces in Afghanistan. Now American plus NATO forces together are having a hard time containing them. Now the Taliban is beginning to occupy part of Pakistan. The Democratic leaders of Pakistan behave like pussy cats in stead of facing them and chasing them out. The Pakistani army is at the Indian border. And the rest is too week to deal with the Taliban. The Democratic government in Islamabad made agreements with the Governor of the Swat Valley, that is 100 miles from Islamabad. If he would control the Taliban, the Government would accept that the strict version of sharia be implemented in that province. They are leaving this province without a fight. That is partial surrender. But the Governor did not keep his word. He did not control the Taliban. Last week the Taliban came to Buner, that is only 60 miles from Islamabad. However, as soon as the agreement was announced, all professional women, such as doctors and nurses ,and most of the other woman population left the province.
The ruling party and the Army are afraid more from India than from the Taliban Pakistan has a half-million Army deployed along the India border. That is easy. Counter insurgency is tough. That is unbelievable. Since when do armies are given a choice of that kind? Donīt they understand that they are facing an existential threat? If they delay some more in moving their army from the border with India, they may not have any country to defend.
These events worry President Obama and his administration, because if the Taliban should take the rest of Pakistan, their nuclear force ( about 100 nuclear heads ) will get into the Talibanīs hands, that plans to share it with Al Qaeda. It will create very serious problems for the U.S and for the West in general.
In one respect, we the U.S., are partly responsible for this bad result. Our governments have never learned that democracy required educated peoples, that there can be no democracy for an ignorant population. We had several fiascos lately because of this ignorance of our politicians. There was a pretty good government in Palestine. We insisted on democracy and got Hamas. In Iraq we insisted in democracy, the elected parliament could not function for years. In Egypt, President Mubarak has been doing a good job, There too we insisted on democracy. Mubarak refused it, because he knew that democracy would bring the Muslim Brothers and Egypt would become for us enemy territory. All these fiascos should have been enough to learn a lesson. We did not, We pushed Musharraf out. Now we have democracy. We really deserved this result.
The Obama government is planning to offer counterinsurgency training to Pakistanīs troops outside of Pakistan. They do not want to see any American boots in Pakistan. The U.S. is trying to find funding for it and a country that will accept our "boots". The Chief of General Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen is "alarmed".
Pakistanīs fundamental problems cannot be solved over night, even if the right measures are taken. It will still take over a long time. For now we should do our best to keep the peace there. But we should begin to help Pakistan the right way.
The best thing we can do for them in the long run is to educate them, to bring them to the 21st century. We should build in Pakistan as many secular schools as possible, in which the Pakistani language, mathematics, sciences, world history and geography, and at 12th grade, philosophy are taught. At the same time we should get the Pakistani government to close the madrassas, so that their buildings can be used in building secular schools. When enough graduates of secular schools are available, Pakistan will stop being a problem for the world.
But , will there be time left to educate them? Just today there were reports of Pakistani troops attacking the Taliban to free Buner. There is no word of these troopsī strength. We should do all we can to save Pakistan as a sane country, but if most of the Army still remains stuck at the border with India, and the Taliban takes over everything., we must now take all the precautions to assure the safety of the nuclear arsenal , and if that does not work, we should be prepared to deny nuclear armsto the Taliban, not in words, but with deeds. Anything else would be suicide.
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