U.S. Continues To Shield Pakistan On Terrorism

US continues to shield Pakistan on terrorism

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a.../405772599.cms

4 Oct 2001, 2044 hrs IST, Chidanand Rajghatta, TNN

Washington: Despite continuing revelations about islamabad's complicity in terrorist activity, the United States continues to shield Pakistan from terrorism charges in the hope it will turn a new leaf, with the Western media readily toeing the official line. the latest disclosures came at a Congressional hearing on Wednesday at which US intelligence analysts not only spoke about Pakistan's official role in fomenting and bankrolling terrorism but also addressed the connections between the Taliban and terrorism in Kashmir.

"Pakistan has also used its position and support to the Taliban to establish within Afghanistan a series of training camps for Kashmiri terrorists. ISI personnel are present, in Mufti, to conduct the training," Vince Cannistraro, a former CIA chief of counter-terrorism operations, said in a testimony before the House International Relations committee. "this arrangement allowed Pakistan "plausible denial" that it is promoting insurgency in Kashmir," he added.

Charles Santos, a fellow intelligence analyst, told the committee that Pakistan's support to the Taliban enabled it "to relocate its training camps for Kashmiri separatists to Afghanistan, benefiting from extremist networks in Afghanistan and providing Pakistan with plausible deniability." "Pakistani extremist groups have functioned as umbrella organisations for other international terror groups that sought shelter in Afghanistan," he added. however, the disclosures, as also the latest massacre in Kashmir, was just a blip in the US media's saturation coverage of its government's war on terrorism. despite revelations that expose Pakistan's lie that it is not engaged in terrorism, the Bush administration has been coy about acting against islamabad, preferring to buy out its ally with promises of financial reward, without publicly seeking any commitment of ending its role.

Not even the latest exposé that Pakistan's military ruler Pervez Musharraf aborted a CIA plan of training Pakistani commandos to nab Bin Laden has moved the administration from its professed line. The let's-coddle-Pakistan-out-of-terrorism school has now been joined by some law-makers, including the influential senator Joseph Biden, who is now proposing a "marshall plan" kind of endeavour to combat the terrorism menace in several countries in the region including Pakistan.

The term refers to a post World War II strategy under which the United States infused large amounts of capital to rebuild war-torn Europe. Indian officials and analysts are aghast that such a plan could be considered without first getting Pakistan to forsake its militarisitic thinking and forcing it to abjure terrorism. "The last time they pumped in money during the CIA years, they saw the results," one official who did not want to be named, said.

In its "international campaign against terrorism," the administration has not even warned Pakistan once from desisting from terrorism despite its own records showing unabated activity. The State Department's patterns of terrorism report for the year 2000 noted that "Pakistan's military government, headed by General Pervez Musharraf, continued previous Pakistani government support of the Kashmir insurgency, and Kashmiri militant groups continued to operate in Pakistan, raising funds and recruiting new cadre." "Several of these groups were responsible for attacks against civilians in Indian-held Kashmir," it added.

The US media has been mostly credulous with little critical examination or evaluation of Pakistan's role in breeding terrorism. While there is incessant coverage of terrorism now in the United States, coverage of terrorist incidents in india is still spotty. The latest terrorist attack on the Jammu and Kashmir legislature got only marginal coverage in the mainline American media, which has been trumpeting Pakistan's readiness to join the battle against terrorism.

Some commentators are now beginning to question US policy of coddling Pakistan and the belief that Musharraf can be reliable ally. In a scathing op-ed comment headlined "an ally's terrorism" Washington Post 's, Jim Hoagland wrote: "there has yet to be a serious tangible act by Pakistan to break its alliance with terror and earn the kind of trust the administration has ostensibly extended." "Survival for him (Musharraf) means seeming to go along with us goals while making sure they do not actually get carried out.

As a bonus, stroking Musharraf so openly makes the stronger relationship Washington should be creating with India more difficult," Hoagland warned.

US officials maintain that they are cognisant of Pakistan's activities and point out that the terrorism report does express to increasing us concern "about reports of Pakistani support to terrorist groups and elements active in Kashmir."

The administration will act on Pak-based terrorist groups too, they have promised. However, senior officials also concede that they have to treat Pakistan with kid gloves given the explosive combination of religious volatility and nuclear weapons.

Both Secretary of State Colin Powell and his deputy Richard Armitage told the media on Wednesday that the US has had to take Pakistan's delicate situation into consideration while formulating policy.