LONDON –Leading British security think-tank Royal United Services Institute(RUSI) has said in an analysis that Pakistan army under the “BajwaDoctrine” is biting back hard against threats issued by the Americanadministration.
In a report published on Thursday, RUSI said Pakistan appears far moreconfident than it was when the US threatened the then-president, General(retd) Pervez Musharraf, to bomb Pakistan “into the stone-age” if it didn’tcomply with American demands.
The RUSI report said the United States has been making the same threatsthat it did from the George W Bush till now, but “gone are the days oftimidity and scurrying to please the Americans”. The think tank this wasbeing called the “Bajwa Doctrine” which suggests that the Pakistan Armyshould not ‘do more’, but rather the world must do more.
It said that Pakistan army is now “battle-hardened after 17 years of war onits western frontier and regular skirmishes on its eastern border” and theworld, in the shape of China, Russia, Turkey and Iran, have all come toPakistan’s defence as America loses influence in Islamabad.
“Pakistan is now adamant that the time for American threats and directivesis over.”
Written by Kamal Alam, RUSI’s expert on Pakistan and the Middle East, thereport said that Milt Bearden, a former station chief in Islamabad whoalong with Congressman Charlie Wilson ran the covert war from Pakistan tofight the Soviets in the 1980s, and former Secretary of State HillaryClinton, have said that it is wrong to blame Pakistan alone for theproblems in Afghanistan and while in Donald Trump’s administration there isno tolerance for Pakistan, General Bajwa has clearly stated even beforeTrump’s tweet that the time for Pakistan to do more has come to an end.
The report noted that the US administration has made a mistake by confusingGeneral Bajwa with Pervez Musharraf who buckled under pressure andresponded to all of the American requests and threats. The report quotedseveral former officers, who were in service at the time of ‘war onterror’, as saying that Pakistan delivered everything it promised onAfghanistan but the US president’s policy tweet on Pakistan and thefollow-up by the US government appeared to be a departure from reality.
It said that the Turkish president, and Chinese and Japanese foreignministers had all made their support for Pakistan’s counter-terrorismeffort well known.
“The Pakistani military is fully prepared to face any cuts in US militaryaid and potential threats of cross border incursions by American forces andfeels its global recognition and reputation of its counter terror effortsand the military’s role is very different to what it was in 2001,” readsthe RUSI report.
“The Pakistani military has made it clear that it will do no more than ithas already done. According to the COAS, Pakistan must defend its bordersand has already played its hand in regional peace. As 2018 begins, it isthe Americans that need Pakistan and not the other way around. US Secretaryof Defence Jim Mattis has already said that he is in touch with thePakistani military, as without them the US forces cannot move theirequipment or survive in landlocked Afghanistan. If anything, Trump’s tweethas made Pakistan realise it has been wrong to trust America for sevendecades.
The Pakistanis have given full combat and logistical support to a war forwhich America has no answers.”
The report said that while there has been a downward trajectory of US aidto Pakistan, the Trump factor coupled with the threat of aid cuts seems tobe a flash in the pan.
“The message from the military is quite clear—US equipment is no longer theonly option for Pakistan. In fact, Pakistan is actively buying hardware andproducing more with China. As far as US military aid goes, the words of thePakistani Army’s spokesperson Major-General Asif Ghafoor sums up Pakistan’sperspective, ‘Pakistan never fought for money but for peace’.
The Pakistani military leadership’s message is clear, that the Army hasrestored Pakistan’s stability. Afghanistan’s stability is theresponsibility of the Afghan government and US forces. In fact, the USstill completely relies on Pakistani assistance for logistics and completeusage of airspace for its forces.”
The report quoted leading American generals and officers who said thatwithout Pakistan the war on terror would not have been won after 9/11.“It was Pakistan that helped militarily more than any other NATO country.The future, as far as the Pakistan Army is concerned, belongs to them,”concluded the report.