Islamabad, May 2 (Inditop) The US is sending out “devastating signals” against Pakistan’s civilian government and “drumming up” the “safe” option of the army, an editorial in a leading English newspaper lamented Saturday, while another maintained that the military may be able to safeguard nukes, “it cannot be expected to address the needs of citizens”.
“The new American set-up is sending out devastating signals against the civilian government and drumming up the �safe’ option of the Pakistan Army,” Dawn said in an editorial headlined “Blow to the government”.
Whatever be the Pakistani government’s sins of omission and commission, “it must not be forgotten that it has been in power for little over a year and, on the militancy issue, is working in a fractious political climate and with little real control over the country’s national security policy.
“American impatience will only aggravate its problems,” the editorial maintained.
US President Barack Obama had Wednesday termed the Pakistani government as “very fragile”, saying it didn’t “seem to have the capacity to deliver basic services”.
On Thursday, Gen David Petraeus, the head of the US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, was quoted as saying the next two weeks were critical for the Pakistani government’s survival and that if “concrete action” was not taken to “destroy the Taliban” the US would have to determine its “next course of action”.
Petraeus also labelled the Pakistani Army under Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani as “superior” to the civilian government. The US State Department backpedaled Friday, saying Petraeus had not set any deadline.
The comments came ahead of the visit to Washington next week of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari for a trilateral meeting also involving the US and Afghanistan on Obama’s new Af-Pak strategy.
“It is clear,” Dawn said, “that at the root of the American disquiet lies Pakistan’s nuclear weapons and the possibility of them falling into the militants’ hands”, adding: “The comments are perplexing, to say the least.”
In this context, it noted that American officials had themselves said in recent months that Pakistan’s nuclear programme was safe and well protected. Secondly, as worrying as the Taliban incursions in the restive North West Frontier Province (NWFP) may be, “there is little evidence that the militants have the capability to overrun Islamabad, let alone capture nuclear paraphernalia.
“So, why the alarmist rhetoric?” the editorial wondered.
At the same time, it pointed to the poor governance in the country.
“The basic services referred to by President Obama – schools, healthcare, rule of law, a judicial system that serves the people – on none of those fronts has there been any meaningful policymaking by the government. The US’s interests aside, it is unrealistic to expect unconditional support from anyone, Pakistani or otherwise, for such a poor record in office,” the editorial contended.
According to The News, the army may be able to safeguard nukes “and possibly even change its line on India, it cannot be expected to address the needs of citizens. This is something only elected governments can deliver on”.
The editorial was headlined “Tough talk”.
Saying that it was “unfortunate” that the identification of Pakistan’s key problems “had to come from Washington”, the editorial added: “The fact is that our leaders must take prime responsibility for their country and determine what needs to be done.
“Tuning in to the wavelength of people is one part of this. Indeed it is a critical part. The government must get its act together, patch up the schisms within it that make its working more difficult and put together an agenda that can persuade people of its competence, its commitment and its ability to deliver. So far people have no confidence the government is capable of this,” the editorial said.
