Afghanistan - Articles

In the famous movie, First Blood-III: Rambo, Sylvester Stallone, on his mission to rescue an American Colonel, happens to be with the mujahideens. The Soviet choppers rain bullets over them, after which the mujahideen leader asks Stallone to leave them, because it was not his war. Stallone, in his cryptic style, replies – ‘Until now it was not, but now it is.’ A gun salute by the mujahideens, obviously the Pashtuns, follows hailing their American savior!

Today anti-American feelings run high among the Pashtun, who had been armed by the US. How did this change come about? No doubt, the US War on Terrorism (read US war against the Taliban and Osama bin Laden) is the main factor underlying Pashtun hatred towards America. The following factors can be attributed for causing this change.

First, the Taliban, were primarily composed of the Pashtuns. Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders belonged to Pashtun tribes. Despite their fighting among themselves, the ethnic loyalty remained strong. The US efforts inside Afghanistan against the Taliban were seen as being directed against them.

Second, Osama bin Laden was and is even today held in high esteem by the Pashtuns. Osama is seen as an ideal mujahid, who gave up his wealth to fight for their cause. His simplicity attracted them. Besides, those who had met Osama created a myth in the tribal areas about his invincibility. Laden’s photographs are kept even today in most houses.

Third, the US war efforts played a vital role in increasing Pashtun hatred towards them. Many of the ‘smart’ bombs proved to be dumb and the use of daisy cutters and carpet bombing did result in the killing of many innocent people in Afghanistan, who had familial relations across the border in Pakistan.

Many Pashtuns from Pakistan had fought along with the Taliban against the Northern Alliance and later against the US. These Pakistani Pashtuns were fighting in southern Afghanistan, and in the north upto Mazar-e-Sharif and Kunduz. The killing of these Pakistanis, especially by the Northern Alliance, was wholly unacceptable. The US support to the Northern Alliance has also played a vital role in increasing this hatred of the Americans.

However, anti-American feeling is not limited to NWFP and Baluchistan, but is present all over Pakistan, owing to different factors and not merely Afghanistan.

First and foremost, most Pakistanis believe that the US has always abandoned Pakistan at crucial periods in its history. Despite being a part of US led military alliances, the US imposed a ban on military sales to Pakistan when war broke out between Pakistan and India in 1965. Worse, during the 1971 Indo-Pak War, the US “tilt” did not prevent Pakistan from breaking into two. In the 1980s, after the war against the Soviets ended, the US imposed the Pressler Amendment. It has still not delivered the F-16s for which Pakistan has paid in full.

Second, some American policies, though not directed against Pakistan, have molded public sentiment against the US. American policies in the Middle East, especially its support to Israel against Palestine, is a major issue, which has made the US the “great satan” all over the Muslim world. A sizeable section of the population in most Muslim countries celebrated the attack on the twin towers, despite their not having any direct problems with the US.

Third, the growth of madrassas inside Pakistan also exacerbated anti-American feelings. Most of these madrassas were set up by religious parties, and their call for jihad focused on their fight against infidels – Israelis, the Americans and also Indians. Madrassas were primarily responsible for the growth of anti-American feeling among the youth.

Fourth, the vernacular media, especially the Urdu press has also played a vital role. The hate Americans campaign was mainly carried out in the vernacular press. A cursory look at even the English media in Pakistan would reveal how anti American its writers are.

How can the US fight against these strong sentiments? Unless the US adopts a different strategy towards the Middle East, this anti-American feeling will not decline in Muslim states. Instead of spending millions in fighting the “green menace” and emphasizing the clash of civilizations theory, the US should let Muslim states form their own governments, whether democratic or not. Its assistance should concentrate on the social sectors and not on military aid. It should understand that the killing of every single Palestinian and the firing of every single missile against Iraq would only alienate the Muslim countries further against the Americans.

Osama is only a symptom but not the disease.