It is not Pakistan's war

There are people in Pakistan, most prominent amongst them being its own president and PM, who insist that War on Terror might have been an American war to begin with, but it has since developed into Pakistan's war as it is Pakistan and not USA which has now turned into a bloody battlefield. Seen in the historical perspective it was the US' illegal and immoral invasion of Afghanistan and the outbreak of insurgency in its wake that has sucked into the theater of conflict the people living in the tribal belt of Pakistan, who have their kith and kin living across the border and who have the long tradition of coming to one another's rescue in times of distress and crises. Musharraf then presiding over the destiny of Pakistan just on one telephonic threat from the US caved in. Besides being threatened as the Musharraf regime was also gasping for financial oxygen from the US it readily grabbed whatever pittance was offered. It is reported that Musharraf did not consult even the corps commanders and capitulated to the US diktat in lending bases in Pakistan. Above all, for the first time in the history of Pakistan, he threw in 120,000 troops in the tribal areas in order to interdict the people living there from joining with their brethren in Afghanistan in their struggle against the US occupation. Mind you when there was not a single military boot on the soil of the tribal areas perfect peace and tranquillity prevailed there. Under the UN General Assembly resolutions of 1985, 1989 and 2002, read with its resolutions on the right to self-determination of 1992, armed struggle for liberation from occupation and oppression stands sanctified and therefore any assistance rendered in that 'legitimate' armed struggle by the neighbouring people on voluntary basis cannot but be deemed equally legitimate. America justified its occupation of Afghanistan on the pretext that the 9/11 attack was planned by Osama Bin Laden and his disciples from the safe havens of Afghanistan and that Mullah Omar refused to extradite Osama when demanded by the US. As the 9/11 attack was supposedly carried out by 19 hijackers who were neither Afghans nor were sent by the Afghan government and as this attack did not fall within the purview of Article 51 of the UN charter as expounded by the International Court of Justice in deciding the Nicaragua case in 1986. Similarly Mullah Omar's refusal to extradite Osama in the face of Bush's most blatant refusal to furnish any evidence about the complicity of Osama when demanded has been quite justified. However not only did the Musharraf regime embark upon a most ruthless military operation against its own people in the tribal areas but also went to the extent of most unabashedly collaborating with the US/NATO forces in their attacks. Therefore this forced the tribesmen to turn their guns against all those who were assisting in advancing the military goals of the US. They remained firmly committed to defending the political sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan. It is also significant to note that the Talibans went into oblivion for quite some time after the 2008 elections hoping for some desirable changes in the policy of the federal government but finding it continuing with the old pro-American policies they once again became proactive. The Talibans have been reiterating time and again their resolve and pledge to fight shoulder to shoulder with the Pakistan's armed forces in case of any foreign military intervention or aggression against Pakistan. They are therefore likely to prove to be a more valuable ally of Pakistan in any aggression against it. But it was the Red Mosque tragedy that triggered off waves of suicide bombing throughout the country. Until then the suicide bombings were confined only to some parts of NWFP. Although an agreement was reached between the government and Maulana Rasheed, it was Musharraf who probably on the asking of the US ordered the most brutal military crackdown which resulted in the mass slaughter of the inmates of Jamia Hafsa and clerics of the Red Mosque. Thus it is the military operations in the tribal area as well as the havoc wreaked in the Red Mosque and Jamia Hafsa that has fuelled the fire of Islamic Militancy. There are compelling reasons to believe that the military operations in Dir, Buner and Swat have been resorted to on the diktat of the US. Secretary of State Clinton and Ambassador Holbrooke strongly opposed the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation and wanted it scrapped. PM Gilani who addressed the nation after ordering the military operation stopped short of revoking Nizam-e-Adl. Moreover ANP even after the resumption of the military operation has been insisting upon the government to enforce the Regulation as soon as peace returns. The writer is a freelance columnist