The Duel

"They say that there are three forces that determine the direction of Pakistani politics: the army, Allah and America, and I think that is slightly overstated because I am not sure Allah has that much to do with it! The American involvement in Pakistan goes back almost to the time of the country’s inception. From the 1950s we were already seeing America coming in and involving Pakistan in these South Asian defence pacts and determining the course of the foreign policy of the country. And many people don’t seem to have that awareness of how far back America’s involvement goes, though in Urdu the word that we have for imperialism I find to be particularly telling. It’s samraj— and many people think that literally means ‘the raj of Uncle Sam.’ Those of us who have studied our recent history know what an incredibly devastating role the Americans have played. Tariq Ali is one of Pakistan’s bravest historians and critics. So for him to put out this book is an education in the forces of this country’s foreign policy, its economic history and its character. And this relationship with America is the hidden narrative of Pakistani politics. I mean hidden to the rest of the world. Yes, in recent years there has been a lot of talk about the Pakistani intelligence services and why they are a force unto themselves, and to answer that question you really have to go back to the 1980s and look at the role that America played in strengthening those institutions, like the army and the ISI. But if you are really serious about understanding that problem you have to go back even further to America’s history. And I am not just talking about the history of supporting the Pakistani army but the history of supporting every single military dictator that the country has had. Because they have all been America’s allies, and a premier American ally that has benefited with rich economic, defence and military aid. If we look at secular movements in this country they haven’t had the same support. Well, you know Pakistan has been dragged into this war as the third front and we’ve become the front for the war on terror. We are the launching pad for the American war in Afghanistan, which is a war that most Afghanistanis feel that we have no business participating in. We will believe it when we see it. The Americans are so entrenched we have Richard Holbrooke stepping into the country every month or so just to check in on us and tell us what is democratic and what isn’t and how we should be fighting a war that we have been fighting long before the Americans moved in. So I don’t think people believe very much that the Americans will leave Afghanistan. Of course we saw them leave 20 years ago as well and we all know that they didn’t really leave. The legacy remains, the money remains and the policies remain."