 America cosied up to an earlier military dictator, General Zia-ul-Haq (right) (while, incidentally, turning a blind eye to his development of a nuclear facility), in order to use Pakistan-based jihadis to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. Those jihadis, then known as mujahideen or freedom fighters, included Osama bin Laden.
When the Russians retreated, the US abandoned Pakistan - as most Pakistanis see it - leaving it to cope with the aftermath of the war. This included a dangerously destabilised neighbour (Afghanistan) overrun by opium-growing warlords; three million refugees, many of whose sons, schooled in frontier madrassas, would grow into the Taliban; a rampant drug problem - Pakistan now has over four million addicts, apparently the highest number in the world; and a flood of arms.
Zia himself, a devout Muslim intent on purging the louche, whisky-drinking regime of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whom he hanged a stone's throw from the park where his daughter was murdered, left a legacy of hardline Islam both |
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| General Zia-ul-Haq left a legacy of hardline Islam both in Pakistan as a whole and in the army |
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in Pakistan as a whole and in the army, which continues today in laws such as the notorious Hudood ordinances covering rape, adultery and blasphemy, and in tacit support for the international jihadis among sections of the military and intelligence services.
In addition, America's historical tendency to view the army as the only institution in Pakistan with which it can do business, has ensured that democracy and its institutions never mature.
Pakistanis are the first to admit that they have brought many of their woes upon themselves, but they also recognise the current crisis as an almost exact replica of what happened last time. It is the main reason why anti-Americanism in Pakistan is more bitter and deep-rooted than a clutch of mullahs burning the American flag.
Washington is believed to be increasingly disturbed by Musharraf's unpopularity. But if the army turns against him, either on its own or with a nudge from the US, he will in many ways be just another victim of America's latest blunder in Pakistan.
FIRST POSTED JANUARY 3, 2008
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