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| November 8, 2001 | Thursday | Shaba’an 21, 1422 |
‘US should not lose Pakistan support’
NEW YORK, Nov 7: Saying that no Islamic political leader has risked as much as Pakistan’s General Pervez Musharraf in support of the US war effort in Afghanistan, the New York Times said that Washington is right to reward him generously.
In an editorial on the coming visit by General Musharraf to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly conference and meet with the US President George W. Bush the Times said “Mr Bush’s challenge is to find ways of supporting President Musharraf and helping him at home by channelling substantial development aid to Pakistan’s impoverished people while encouraging further policy changes.”
Warning that the United States should not repeat the mistake of early 90s and disengage itself from Pakistan once the US objectives in Afghanistan are achieved, the paper said that it makes sense for the United States to invest in the political and economic stability of Pakistan. It is also right to bolster General Musharraf’s diplomatic prestige”
It observed “less than two months have passed since Pakistan’s ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, shocked his country’s military establishment and infuriated radical Islamic groups by disowning the Taliban and allying with the United States. Now he feels confident enough to travel to New York this week to speak at the United Nations, visit the World Trade Centre site and meet with President Bush.”
The paper said that the Americans have to hope General Musharraf’s confidence is justified warning “should his nationalist and fundamentalist enemies back home prevail, it will be immeasurably harder for Washington to defeat the Taliban and oust Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network from Afghanistan. Even more important, Pakistan, with its 140 million people and more than a score of nuclear weapons, could fall into dangerous and unpredictable hands.”
However, the paper says “America’s new embrace of Pakistan needs to be cautious, recognizing that many serious issues remain unaddressed. Islamabad has still not severed its ties to terrorist groups fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, its commitment to restraining future weapons development is uncertain and General Musharraf’s own promises of restoring democracy are hedged with ambiguities.”
“Mr Bush’s challenge is to find ways of supporting President Musharraf and helping him at home by channelling substantial development aid to Pakistan’s impoverished people while encouraging further policy changes. The United States should also make clear that it will not repeat its mistake of the early 1990s and disengage itself from Pakistan’s problems after American military objectives in Afghanistan are achieved,” the paper said.
Speaking of President Musharraf’s effort the paper said “the changes he has been engineering since Sept 11 go well beyond allowing Washington to use Pakistani airspace and bases. If he succeeds in disentangling its military intelligence services from the Taliban, Al Qaeda and limits foreign funding of violent Islamic extremist groups, Pakistan’s chances for democratic development would be much improved. Mr Bush should press him to persevere and promise to help him and his country if he does.”
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