Saying it like it is by Kamran Shafi

It�s been years since someone said it like it really is, and what a breath of fresh air it was. It�s been decades since someone in a position of authority in Pakistan was not mealy-mouthed about something that so affects our country, and quite honestly spoke the truth as it exists, not as one wished it to be.

Well done, Governor Aurakzai, for taking the bull (for bull, read bull-dog) by the horns (for horns, read ears) and telling the Brits off for the utter mess they are helping the Americans (NATO, merely the fig leaf, need one point out) make of Afghanistan, our own tribal areas, and consequently of our country.

How right was Aurakzai, quoted in the Sunday Times of a few days ago saying: �Bring 50,000 more troops and fight for 10 to 15 years more and you won�t resolve it. The British with their history in Afghanistan should have known that better than anyone else...It pains me to hear people accusing us of allowing border crossing...we�re physically manning the border � our troops are sitting there on the zero line... damn it, you also have a responsibility...go sit on the border, fight like soldiers instead of sitting in your bases.

�The Americans say they can see even a goat on a hillside with their electronic surveillance, so why don�t they tell us where crossings are taking place and we will plug those gaps and kill those people...either they [NATO] are trying to hide their own weaknesses by levelling allegations at Pakistan or they are refusing to admit the facts.�

Aurakzai said that NATO had failed to achieve any of its objectives. �Why did the coalition come to Afghanistan? To find Al Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, Mullah Omar and the Taliban; for democracy, reconstruction and development, and [to] leave a stable Afghanistan which wouldn�t be vulnerable to terrorists.

�All very noble, but tell me which one of those objectives have been achieved? I went to Kabul in September and they are all living in a big bunker with no control over Afghanistan. There�s no law and order. The insurgency has become far worse...is that a success?� He said NATO was ignoring the realities on the ground. The reason Taliban numbers had swelled was because moderates were joining the militants, he added.

�It is no longer an insurgency but a war of Pashtun resistance exactly on the model of the first Anglo-Afghan war,� he said. �Then too (in 1839-42) initially there were celebrations. The British built their cantonment and brought their wives and sweethearts from Delhi and didn�t realise that in the meantime the Afghans were getting organised to rise up. This is exactly what Afghans are doing today and what they did against the Soviets,� said Mr Aurakzai.

�The British should have known better. No country in the world has a better understanding of the Afghan psyche, and very little has changed there in the past couple of centuries,� he added. Pushing for talks with the Taliban, Aurakzai also said: �This is the only way forward ... there will be no military solution, there has to be a political solution. How many more lives have to be lost before people realise it�s time for dialogue?�

Well done, and I hope Islamabad recognises the clear-headedness, and wisdom, of its representative in the Frontier, and follows up his clear challenge to the so-called �coalition� to get its act together and listen to reason. But the big question is will they, specially our �tight� friends the Americans, listen to reason? My fear is they will not, and that rather than appreciating an honest appraisal of the existing situation by someone who is entirely familiar with the area and its mores, will shove their heads even deeper into the sand; I fear that instead of changing course they will begin to question his motives.

This shoving of the head into the sand is not only true for Afghanistan, in that far greater disaster that is Iraq too the brilliant Dubya insists even today that he will keep US troops there until the �mission� is accomplished! This after (US) think-tank after think-tank, and (US) military study after military study has said clearly that there can be no military victory for the United States in Iraq. This after the publication of a one-day old report by a refugee committee stating that more than 1.8 million Iraqis are now refugees in neighbouring countries � refugees from criminal gangs, a destroyed infra-structure, et al, all spin-offs of the completely unjustified US/Brit assault on Iraq.

Meanwhile, the pope has arrived in Turkey for a four-day visit on what is billed as a mending-the-fences-with-Islam trip. While he has earned praise for resiling from his earlier stand that Turkey did not qualify for EU membership because it was predominantly an Islamic country, he has steadfastly refused to apologise for his quoting Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologos that the Prophet Muhammad�s (PBUH) teachings had brought (the world) �evil and inhuman� things. Why in the name of Christ he quoted that quite bad man remains a mystery to me; why he refuses to simply say �sorry� I do not know.

And, back at the ranch, a news report has it that Musharraf has said that �DHA schemes had been started to facilitate retired army officials in making their own homes. He said that servicemen were given plots at cheaper rates but not free. �If we won�t look after our retired officials then how will they survive,� he said, adding, �It is the responsibility of the nation to provide security (of life) to an army officer, but if this security is not provided, it is incumbent on the organisation (army) to look after its people.�� So is one to take it that the army is actually Martian? And that the huge moneys that go towards providing �security (of life) to an army officer� by the �organisation� do not come out of the pockets of Pakistanis? He was opening a luxurious golf course housing development incidentally.

One wishes he had mentioned �JCOs, NCOs and Jawans� alongside �officers�.

Bushism of the Week: <.b>Maria Bartiromo: �I�m curious, have you ever googled anybody? Do you use Google?�

President Bush: �Occasionally. One of the things I�ve used on the Google is to pull up maps. It�s very interesting to see � I�ve forgot the name of the programme � but you get the satellite, and you can � like, I kinda like to look at the ranch. It reminds me of where I wanna be sometimes� President George W. Bush; Interview with CNBC�s Maria Bartiromo, Oct. 24, 2006.

Kamran Shafi is a freelance columnist. He can be contacted at kshafi1@yahoo.co.uk

The views expressed herein are the writers' own and do not reflect those of DesPardes.com

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Kamran Shafi is a freelance columnist. He can be contacted at kshafi1@yahoo.co.uk

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