Bush and South Asia - By Dr. Jassim Taqui - Frontier Post Opinion

The people of Pakistan had virtually prayed for the success of theRepublican George W. Bush. Both on the people and government level , there is a perception that Pakistan might get a fairer deal from the Republicans.

Also, Pakistan is facing one of the most critical phase in its contemporary history.
The nation has experienced one crisis after another.

Initially, most of the crises were related to the political system, internal politics and a grim economic situation as a result of the debt trap. Now, however, the nation is confronted with external crises.

The first has been the Kargil syndrome, which could have been escalated into a devastated nuclear war with India.

Ominously, immediately after ending the Kargil conflict, the nation is facing even a greater issue that is related to the global issue of terrorism.

Reportedly, the Mujahideen, including Osama bin Laden, have helped the Taliban in opening yet another front in Afghanistan.

This time the objective is to crush the Northern Opposition of Ahmad Shah Masood.

But the recent condemnation of Taliban by UN Security Council and the tough language used against Pakistan, indicated that the Clinton administration was extremely annoyed with Islamabad.

This time the area of difference is not military miscalculation and not even the mere issue of Osama bin Laden. It is related to the greater issue of combating terrorism.

Seemingly, Washington wants Pakistan now to cooperate with it in bringing to the book the alleged terrorists in Pakistan, Kashmir and Afghanistan.

And given the strong influence of these forces in the three places, it seems impossible that the Government would be able to deliver on this intricate matter.

The Saudi-born alleged terrorist, Osama bin Laden, has high-level contacts and a net of supporters around the world apart from rich financial supporters in the Middle-East and the Persian Gulf.

The Americans simply want from Pakistan a close cooperation with the U.S. Intelligence and law enforcement agencies in the same manner other countries are providing the United States.

They quote the close cooperation in the war against global terrorism with Governments and locals in India, Egypt, the Philippines, Albania, Uruguay, Germany and Britain among others to clamp down on Bin Laden's operatives on charges ranging from petty theft to carrying bogus travel documents.

The new U.S. tactic in the anti-terrorist battle, for which the U.S. congress last year voted $5 billion and raised it to $10 billion this year, is to make "life miserable for terrorists around the world''.

As demonstrated by 78 consecutive days of attacks on Yugoslavia by the NATO, the United States seems to be ever willing to achieve its goals by excessive force...