Pakistani-American Community Advocacy Day was observed on February 26 on Capitol Hill with grand intentions and a less than clear plan of implementation. The objective was to bring members of Congress into a causus favorable to improved US/Pakistani relations. Prior to the scheduled meetings, representatives spoke about the current status of relations and the areas of improvement worth focusing on.
Improving relations with Pakistan boiled down to a few basic points, improving diplomacy, solving Kashmir, and empowering the Pakistani people by strengthening their civilian government. From the US standpoint, immigration and education were two points easily addressed. Open the US border to more Pakistani immigrates and you will vastly improve relations with the Pakistani People. Build more schools, educate more people, and you will see favorable results. Isolating Pakistan, that is to say treating it like a military target rather than sovereign nation, will only encourage the deterioration of democracy.
Several questions from the audience revolved around a study by RAND addressing an effective strategy to combat al-Qaeda. The study concludes that only 7% of terrorism can be rooted out by the military. 43% of terrorism ends with a transition to politics, but can be difficult for groups with broad agendas like al-Queda. Also, 40% of terrorism can be rooted out through police investigations at the local level. Essentially, the US cannot expect to fight terrorism through military means but can very successfully address the causes of terrorism through the techniques address in the RAND study. Progress cannot be made without avoiding civilian casualties.
There is nothing more important to the ‘war on terror’ [sic] than the US/Pakistani relationship was the basic message of Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski. He attributed the shortcoming of that relationship to its one sidedness. Problems were pushed over the Afghani border into Pakistan and only adopting new policies to improve Pakistan’s economy, education system, and energy and social needs can bring about progress.
Pakistan is perpetually the defensive partner and exchanges like this are important. This is highlighted by the issue of Kashmir, as long as the Kashmir issue exists, militants will exist. It seems that for Pakistanis, the original sin is Kashmir. Any comprehensive solution for peace needs to address this issue and India needs to be included on any future talks.
Congressman Al Green gave some of the most inspiring remarks of the early speakers. He advocated the US utilize its peace power instead of the police power. He emphasized that US actions must not hurt civilians, they must help the people. He talked about his visits to Pakistan and the difficulty in meeting the people. He believed a grass roots movement could bring democracy to Pakistan.
Congressman Green addressed the Swat issue as nothing new, declaring the style of the law is not important, but how people are treated under that law is. In US relations with Pakistan, we cannot take a step back. That is message the US needs to send to the people of Pakistan. In his call for the US to embrace democracy in Pakistan, Congressman Green quoted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, “We must learn to live together as brothers and sisters or perish together as fools.â€
However, the practical application of these ideas was less than clear. Carefully disguised behind powerful words and inspiring speeches was a lack of a plan with any substance. If it were really so easy to develop a pro-democracy grassroots movement and to settle Kashmir, why hasn’t it been done? While events such as this one can be of great value in opening a new dialogue for peace, they do not bring about immediately change. For the sake of its success, Congressional members of the pro-Pakistani Cascus need to remember this is only the first of many steps necessary to bring reconciliation and peace to Pakistan.
Imran Malik
Minaret of Freedom Institute
www.minaret.org
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