Pakistan unable to escape quagmire after sinking into endless war on terror

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Pakistan unable to escape quagmire after sinking into endless war on terror

By Farooq Yousaf (Global Times) 08:39, October 21, 2013

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The ongoing spate of violence in Pakistan seems to have no end. Recently Peshawar, in northwestern Pakistan, has witnessed three deadly bomb blasts within eight days, killing close to 140 people and injuring dozens.

The first attack was on an All Saints Cathedral, on September 22, in Peshawar, where the main target was the city's small Christian minority.

The second attack, again in Peshawar, took place on September 27, targeting a bus carrying government officials.

In a third blast on September 29, a busy market in Peshawar's city center was the target of the terrorists.

The Pakistani people are at the end of their wits, and ask over and over again whether this havoc will ever end.

Despite a new government talking of fresh policies encouraging peace talks with the Taliban, things don't appear to be changing.

When the US decided to invade Afghanistan to hunt down Osama bin Laden after the September 11 attacks in 2001, it used a coercive policy of "You are either with us or against us" to drag Pakistan into the "War on Terror."

Attack after attack continues unabated. Nothing and no one seems to be able to stop militant groups, spearheaded by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, from targeting important sites and people at will.

Historically, it would be unfair to single out any one figure for the current mess in Pakistan, as the foundations for extremism in this region were laid in the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

During that era, Pakistan decided to side with the US in order to fight against the Soviet Union on a foreign territory, Afghanistan.

Several resistant groups emerged in this region, including Islamic organizations which eventually spawned the Taliban movement and took over Afghanistan.

In the past decade, Pakistan's involvement in the War on Terror was a huge strategic mistake, with casualties reaching the mammoth number of 50,000 and still rising.

Apart from the human losses, the country has also suffered economically.

Investors are shying away from bringing capital into Pakistan, while local investors seek opportunities to rest their money in safer pastures outside the country.

The Taliban, its affiliates, along with the Al Qaeda, are frequently targeting innocent Pakistanis along with military personnel, stating that Pakistan, as a US ally, is also their enemy and target.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his government along with Imran Khan, an opposition leader whose party governs the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, have shown their resolve to bring the Taliban and all militants to the table for peace talks.

However, given the complexity and range of these groups, and their differing leaderships and dynamics, with whom should the government negotiate?

Even if some groups agreed to negotiate, who would bring the others on the table?

As the renewed resolve to negotiate with the militants for peace grows, many are asking whether it will be wise to talk to such savages who kill innocent civilians in cold blood.

Peace talks with the Taliban in the past, which went against the will of the US in the Swat region, drastically backfired.

When the Pakistan army decided to use force, they suffered major losses while attacking militant sanctuaries in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan and Afghan border regions.

While both these major options, talks and conflict, fail to provide results, achieving peace seems a distant proposition.

With all this bloodshed and violence, with no hopes of a truce and a lack of will to use force against the militants, no one knows when this all will end.

Despite being an optimistic citizen, I fear the War on Terror is a quagmire that Pakistan may take decades to come out of.

The author is a program consultant and editor at the Centre for Research and Security Studies, Islamabad. farooq@crss.pk