The US has already decreased civil and military aid to Pakistan for the year 2017. On Thursday, another congressional panel approved the State and Foreign Operations bill suggesting increased restrictions on US civil and military aid to Pakistan in the fiscal year 2018. The bill now goes to the House for voting.
The recent step of decreasing aid to Pakistan comes at a time when the Trump administration is thinking to increase American troops in Afghanistan. Assuming that the US government cuts down economic and military assistance to Pakistan, will it change the situation on the ground? It’s highly unlikely.
Failing to understand the causes behind American fiascos in Afghanistan, the United States is frustrated as well as confused. The US wants Pakistan to carry out military operations against the Afghan Taliban, while at the same time squeezing support for Pakistan and berating it publically. The Americans themselves are considering the option of negotiation with Taliban and are blaming Pakistan to cover up military failures. We can already hear the echoes of history. Just as Cambodia was a scapegoat for the Americans in the Vietnam War, likewise Pakistan has to accept the blame for American disaster in Afghanistan. It seems like no one in the US administration is willing to spare a few moments and think about the real reason for almost two decades of American war in Afghanistan. The only explanation in this regard is that no one likes being occupied by a foreign power. The people of an invaded country fight, their neighbours are collateral, and try their best to survive the alien invasion.
If there is no will of the Afghan people to fight American aggression, no foreign assistance can help them in overthrowing the US occupation of their country. Vietnamese fought American invasion, Iraqis are battling against the US troops, why think of Afghanis as an exception? The Taliban are fighting the US forces through a time-tested tactic: guerrilla warfare. Proven the most effective way of resisting occupant forces, no amount of advanced weaponry or aid has ever defeated guerrilla fighters till this day.
As far as threatening Islamabad to reduce the aid it is receiving, the sooner Islamabad realises the strings attached with American aid, the better. It’s about time to reconsider our partners and make alternative plans. There are countries in the present day world order that are surviving and thriving without American aid. Unless we throw the yoke of aid from our necks, we will succumb to American demands. The Cuban government is successfully fighting American imperialism till this day. And without American intervention, the Cubans have learnt how to be self-reliant. The Cuban government has achieved some remarkable feats in health and education that no other aid recipient country can ever dream of. The road is tough, but our leaders have taken too many shortcuts since the 1950s, and left us with a weak security state.