Nawaz Sharif has rare chance to give anti-terrorism policy
ISLAMABAD: As Mian Nawaz Sharif readies to form government for the third time, he should ensure that this time at least, he does not let go a rare opportunity to balance the civil-military divide, by formulating a comprehensive national counter-terrorism policy, a credible study has observed.
There is a stark difference in the challenges Sharif faced in the past and the ones that stare him in the face in 2013, specially trying to counter terror with PTI’s Chairman Imran Khan’s government in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa.
Both Sharif and Khan have an opportunity while balancing the tilt in which the United States ‘continually seeks the Pakistani military as its primary counter-terrorism partner.’ Washington on Thursday revealed that drones had killed four US nationals including in Pakistan.
This is best explained in ‘Drones-Myths and Realities in Pakistan’, the latest report and a ‘must read’ for all Pakistanis, by International Crisis Group (ICG).It asks Pakistan to define its cooperation with the U.S. in countering terrorism within the context of a comprehensive national counter-terrorism policy.
“As the country’s democratic transition continues, with a new government formed following the 11 May 2013 general election, representative civilian institutions should seize control of the national security debate and prioritise extending the rule of law to FATA, thus diminishing Washington’s perceived need to conduct drone strikes in the tribal belt”, says the report.
ICG clearly points out that the US has yet to end its dependence on the Pakistani military as its primary counter-terrorism partner. “This has resulted in inadequate assistance to civilian institutions, including police and other criminal justice actors, and also failure to apply conditions on security assistance even as the military continues to support anti-Afghanistan and India-oriented jihadi groups”, it notes.
Washington’s reliance on the military has also impeded a more robust dialogue on the urgent need for comprehensive political reforms in FATA.
“The U.S. would stand to gain by making the relationship conditional on performance and by supporting meaningful reform in FATA. Drone attacks may have killed scores of top al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders, but as long as FATA remains a lawless noman’s land, it will be a haven for an array of militant and criminal networks, and the U.S. drone program will have at best a controversial legacy”, says the ICG.
Secrecy has allowed hardliners in Pakistan’s military establishment and elsewhere in the polity to portray the program as a violation of national sovereignty, while maintaining plausible deniability about Pakistani consent. Above all, it has enabled the Pakistani state to sidestep responsibility for the real sources of militancy in FATA, which was a legal black hole long before U.S. drone strikes began in 2004.
Concluding its findings, the ICG says that the Obama administration looks to withdraw most of its troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, U.S. reliance on remote targeted killings to disrupt militant networks in FATA will likely to continue, if not intensify.
Yet, with increasing domestic scrutiny, symbolised by the Senate Intelligence Committee’s rigorous hearing for John Brennan’s confirmation as CIA chief and the administration’s revelation of more details to the American public, the drone program could become more transparent in the second Obama term.
If not, it will continue to be exploited by hardliners in Pakistan to ignite anti-U.S. sentiment. Crucial steps would be to establish clear, rigorous and publicly available targeting guidelines in keeping with international legal principles of distinction and proportionality and to transfer control from the CIA to the Defense Department, with oversight by the Senate and House Armed Services Committees and appropriate judicial review.
ISLAMABAD: As Mian Nawaz Sharif readies to form government for the third time, he should ensure that this time at least, he does not let go a rare opportunity to balance the civil-military divide, by formulating a comprehensive national counter-terrorism policy, a credible study has observed.
There is a stark difference in the challenges Sharif faced in the past and the ones that stare him in the face in 2013, specially trying to counter terror with PTI’s Chairman Imran Khan’s government in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa.
Both Sharif and Khan have an opportunity while balancing the tilt in which the United States ‘continually seeks the Pakistani military as its primary counter-terrorism partner.’ Washington on Thursday revealed that drones had killed four US nationals including in Pakistan.
This is best explained in ‘Drones-Myths and Realities in Pakistan’, the latest report and a ‘must read’ for all Pakistanis, by International Crisis Group (ICG).It asks Pakistan to define its cooperation with the U.S. in countering terrorism within the context of a comprehensive national counter-terrorism policy.
“As the country’s democratic transition continues, with a new government formed following the 11 May 2013 general election, representative civilian institutions should seize control of the national security debate and prioritise extending the rule of law to FATA, thus diminishing Washington’s perceived need to conduct drone strikes in the tribal belt”, says the report.
ICG clearly points out that the US has yet to end its dependence on the Pakistani military as its primary counter-terrorism partner. “This has resulted in inadequate assistance to civilian institutions, including police and other criminal justice actors, and also failure to apply conditions on security assistance even as the military continues to support anti-Afghanistan and India-oriented jihadi groups”, it notes.
Washington’s reliance on the military has also impeded a more robust dialogue on the urgent need for comprehensive political reforms in FATA.
“The U.S. would stand to gain by making the relationship conditional on performance and by supporting meaningful reform in FATA. Drone attacks may have killed scores of top al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders, but as long as FATA remains a lawless noman’s land, it will be a haven for an array of militant and criminal networks, and the U.S. drone program will have at best a controversial legacy”, says the ICG.
Secrecy has allowed hardliners in Pakistan’s military establishment and elsewhere in the polity to portray the program as a violation of national sovereignty, while maintaining plausible deniability about Pakistani consent. Above all, it has enabled the Pakistani state to sidestep responsibility for the real sources of militancy in FATA, which was a legal black hole long before U.S. drone strikes began in 2004.
Concluding its findings, the ICG says that the Obama administration looks to withdraw most of its troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, U.S. reliance on remote targeted killings to disrupt militant networks in FATA will likely to continue, if not intensify.
Yet, with increasing domestic scrutiny, symbolised by the Senate Intelligence Committee’s rigorous hearing for John Brennan’s confirmation as CIA chief and the administration’s revelation of more details to the American public, the drone program could become more transparent in the second Obama term.
If not, it will continue to be exploited by hardliners in Pakistan to ignite anti-U.S. sentiment. Crucial steps would be to establish clear, rigorous and publicly available targeting guidelines in keeping with international legal principles of distinction and proportionality and to transfer control from the CIA to the Defense Department, with oversight by the Senate and House Armed Services Committees and appropriate judicial review.
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