Kayani rejects USA pleas for NWA onset

WASHINGTON: Pakistani Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani will not eliminate insurgents’ safe havens within his country where Taliban and al Qaeda elements launch attacks from against coalition troops in Afghanistan, according to the Washington Post, because he doesn’t trust US motivations and is hedging his bets for when America’s strategy fails.

Recent US intelligence has validated this premise as Kayani refused to budge despite personal appeals from President Obama, General David Petraeus and other US military leaders and diplomats. Kayani’s rationale is based on many factors.
He is hesitant to launch attacks against terrorist sanctuaries because it could incite domestic terrorism and uproot local communities. Plus, anti-American sentiments run high throughout Pakistan, and launching an offensive into North Waziristan would cost the military public support.
Kayani is believed to be the most powerful man in Pakistan – more powerful than even the president and prime minister – and many have suggested that, if he ever wished, he could easily execute a coup and seize complete control of the country.

Kayani says he is worried about the end game in the region while the US is worried about the next drone strike in North Waziristan.
Kayani has been furious with Americans lately because of the recent WikiLeaks fiasco, as diplomatic cables depicted him as chummy with the US and was quoted as discussing a possible removal of Pakistan’s president and his preferred replacement.
The two countries’ “frames of reference” regarding regional security “can never be the same,” he said, according to news accounts. Calling Pakistan America’s “most bullied ally,” Kayani said that the “real aim of US strategy is to denuclearise Pakistan”, the Post said.
Pakistan is in drastic need of a foreign policy paradigm shift as they continue to cling to a post-nuclear variation of “strategic depth” at their own peril; because Pakistan’s geopolitical rivalry with India will become irrelevant if the state is devoured from within by extremists.
“Kayani needs to wake up and realise that internal extremists are a bigger existential threat than India right now. Pakistan can no longer afford to nurture home-grown groups nor can they afford the establishment of a terrorist state next door.”
If Afghanistan should fall to the Taliban, Pakistan will never be able to effectively address its own extremist problem.
Ultimately, the last thing Pakistan needs to see is the Haqqani Network or any version of the Taliban in power next door, the newspaper said. -Online

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