While the US has received support from its NATO allies and from many other nations in its move to wage a war against the groups linked to Saudi dissident Osama Bin Laden for their alleged involvement in the recent terrorist attacks in the United States, the Pakistani media has been less than whole hearted in its support for the US. Though the leading Pakistan newspapers have denounced the terrorist attacks, they have been equally critical of American policies as well interestingly, no Pakistani paper has found fault with their own country's approach in dealing with terrorism.
“The American policy-makers, intellectuals, mediamen and of course, top brass, seem to invariably confuse terrorism with crime, and have surprisingly failed to look deeper into the behavior of the Arab suicide bombers and Kashmiri Mujahideen,” says the Business Recorder, a leading Pakistani business daily, in today's editorial. According to the Business Recorder the inhuman act of terrorism was “parrot-like ascribed by western media to Osama bin Laden and Muslim revivalist movements, out of a deeply ingrained hatred and despite the absence of any evidence”.
The paper further dubs the various actions taken by the US government after Tuesday's attack as “war hysteria or terrorist phobia”. It notes that “... in US the chain of command suffered a hiatus in which some zealots, carried away by the media campaign, felt it was time for them to take an initiative against the Taliban threat”. According to it the US's retaliation plans were part of a “great satanic programme conceived and carried out by people in key positions in the US military establishment”.
The Nation has warned the US that it might lose widespread sympathy if its action are seen to be “targeting people as innocent as the American victims.” it further adds that: A responsible state should not act Eke a bunch of terrorists. The paper has criticised NATO for invoking Article 5 of its Treaty which states that an armed attack on one or more of the allies shall be considered an attack on all. 'The US must either review the policies provoking such animus, or work out how it is being misunderstood,' says The Nation.
The Dawn feels that president Mushrraf acted promptly and correctly' when he offered Pakistan's lull cooperation to the United States in the fight against terrorism.
However, The Jung has raised the issue of risks involved in offering full cooperation to US government. 'The issue (of offering full cooperation) is of considerable importance as Pakistan's experience of fulfilling the roles it was given by US or voluntarily took up to ingratiate itself with its ally have not always been salubrious,' feels The Jung. The paper has noted that 'the worst was the role Islamabad played' with regard to the developments in Afghanistan during the 1980s as a close partner of the US.
'It was not only the onus of extending
every kind of assistance to the jihad and the Afghan people by allowing
the inflow of millions of refugees, but also of bearing the collateral
effects of the task Pakistan was performing', says The Jung. It further
says that “Participating in any Unites States operation will be just as
hazardous as not participating in it. Islamabad faces a virtual Catch-22
situation, and much as it might want, its options are limited”.