Anglo-American imperialism, get out of Asia!
US imperialism is putting immense pressure on Pakistan. This, when it is firmly established that the US itself is the biggest sponsor of terrorism worldwide. US imperialism has destroyed Afghanistan. Its "war against terrorism" is getting exposed more and more as a strategy for the conquest of Asia, as a prelude to conquer the world. The economy of US imperialism is in deep recession.
Anglo-American imperialism, get out of Asia!
US imperialism has turned its guns on its erstwhile ally, Pakistan, whom it had called its "strategic partner" in the "war against terrorism". A massive propaganda campaign has been launched over the past year by President Obama, his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and by the top US military commander as well as CIA chief, claiming that the Pakistani state and army is harboring and sponsoring terrorist groups which attack US targets in Afghanistan.
President Obama had earlier declared publicly that the US would strike at Pakistan if it continued to harbor terrorists. The US has deployed thousands of troops accompanied by heavy weapons and explosives including helicopters in Afghan areas adjoining Pakistan's North Waziristan region, and have slapped curfew and conducted house-to-house searches there. The Pakistan-Afghanistan border has been sealed.
US Secretary of State Clinton, accompanied by CIA Director David Petraeus, current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Martin Dempsey, and Under-Secretary of Defence for Policy, Michele Flournoy, visited Islamabad on October 20 to put further pressure on Pakistan's government and army. The visit is being described by US government and media as a "last ditch effort" to salvage US – Pakistan relations. Part of the terms of the visit are "strengthening democratic institutions and democratic governance”, indicating that the US is possibly preparing the ground for “regime change”.
Pakistan has already been the victim of numerous drone attacks by the US, which have killed hundreds of people. In May, in the name of capturing and executing Osama bin Laden, the US armed forces violated Pakistan's sovereignty and justified it brazenly. The current deliberate escalation of tension constitutes preparation for further attacks on Pakistan’s sovereignty.
Pakistan's response
The Pakistani people are extremely angry at the repeated violations of their sovereignty. They are angry that hundreds and thousands of their fellow countrymen and women have been killed by the US imperialists through drone attacks, as well as other terrorist strikes. Pakistanis increasingly understand that the huge numbers of sectarian terrorist attacks going on in Pakistan are mainly sponsored by Anglo-American imperialism and their intelligence agencies.
The government and army of Pakistan are doing a tight rope walk. On the one hand, under the pressure of public opinion, they are forced to make anti-imperialist statements. On the other hand, there is immense pressure from the imperialists, who have their claws deep into the Pakistani establishment, to succumb to the imperialist pressure.
Regarding the US accusation that Pakistan was sponsoring the Haqqani “terrorist” network, Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said that "It is something that goes very, very unappreciated on our side. This is unsubstantiated. No evidence has been shared with us.
"If we talk about links, I am sure the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) also has links with many terrorist organisations around the world, by which we mean intelligence links.
"And this particular network, which [the United States] continues to talk about, is a network which was the blue-eyed boy of the CIA itself for many years.
"I just hope that we'll be given a chance to co-operate with each other and the doors will remain open – because statements like this are pretty much close to shutting those doors.
"I think we must not be tested more than we have the ability to bear."
Pakistan's army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said the US knows which countries are in contact with the Haqqanis, and that "singling out Pakistan is neither fair nor productive".
It has been widely reported that the US, Pakistan and the Karzai regime in Afghanistan had been earlier trying to coopt one of the Haqqani leaders as Deputy Prime Minister in the puppet government. This plan later fell through.
The President of Pakistan has also many times publicly pointed out that the US was instrumental in organising terrorist groups in Pakistan in its bid to infiltrate the Afghan resistance during the period of Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. This has not pleased the US.
During the UN General Assembly session in September, when the US escalated its offensive against Pakistan, the Pakistan government called back its Foreign Minister.
Two days before the Clinton visit, the top politicians of the ruling party and opposition, as well as the army commanders met, and issued a common statement. General Kayani bluntly told the Americans that they should think ten times before violating Pakistan's sovereignty, as Pakistan was not Iraq or Afghanistan.
What stand should Indians take?
US imperialism is putting immense pressure on Pakistan. This, when it is firmly established that the US itself is the biggest sponsor of terrorism worldwide. US imperialism has destroyed Afghanistan. Its "war against terrorism" is getting exposed more and more as a strategy for the conquest of Asia, as a prelude to conquer the world. The economy of US imperialism is in deep recession. It sees militarization, fascism and imperialist wars as the way out. It wants to capture the rich oil, natural gas and mineral resources of Central Asia and West Asia. The US strategy is to encircle Iran, and put pressure on China, Russia and India. However, the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan are standing in its way. The resistance of the Afghan people is mounting, and this resistance is gathering increasing support amongst the people of Pakistan who have deep sympathy with their Afghan brothers on the other side. They deeply resent being utilised by US imperialism in their nefarious designs. The Pakistani people are coming to the correct conclusion that it is US imperialism that is their biggest enemy.
The people of India must understand that what happened to Afghanistan yesterday is happening to Pakistan today. What is happening to Pakistan today may also happen to India tomorrow.
The Anglo-American imperialist game plan in this region poses a great danger to the peace and security of the Indian people as well as other peoples of this region. They have a long history of dividing the peoples of our region in order to establish their domination. It is a tragedy that sections of the ruling circles and wealthy classes in this part of the world historically fell prey to their designs, betraying our peoples for their own narrow interests. This happened both in colonial times, as well as in the past 64 years since then.
At this grave juncture, the Pakistani people, as also the Afghan people, are looking towards the Indian people for assistance in this moment of crisis. We must not adopt the narrow-minded and self-serving outlook of the Indian ruling class and its representatives who see advantage in the extremely difficult situation that Pakistan is in at this time. We must step up the struggle in defence of the sovereignty of Pakistan and for expulsion of US imperialism from the region. At the same time, we must demand that the government of India stop collaborating with the US and the puppet Karzai regime in Afghanistan. Instead, it must bilaterally discuss with the government of Pakistan how to step up anti-imperialist unity and throw the US and other foreign imperialists out of the region.