Richard Holbrooke and Pakistan

U.S. Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke is in Pakistan, again! Personally, I admire America’s commitment to strengthen democracy in Pakistan. I also applaud Obama’s efforts to stabilize Pakistan. For some, it is obvious that Holbrooke’s intense efforts and frequent visits are a clear sign that Washington is very serious about doing whatever it can to make sure that ordinary people, especially in Pakistan don’t give up on democracy. For this, Washington is still pouring money, but the deep rooted structural problems in Pakistan wont’ be, and they can’t be fixed in couple of months, or even couple of years. It will take a while to reverse the course and to stop Pakistan from crossing point of no return.

Washington has to do more, a lot more.

Since the tragedy of 9/11, Washington has done a lot for Pakistan, but it is worth remembering that whatever Washington did was, or most of it was in the form of military aid to supplement America’s war in Afghanistan. There was little in the shape of civilian aid, if one compares the actual dollar amount between the military assistance and civilian aid. I am not suggesting that nothing was done, and I am not attempting to down play, or God forbid demonize the American assistance, but I am , trying to draw attention to the very little civilian aid, at least so far. Therefore, in order to truly help Pakistan, Holbrooke will have to reassess the issue of civilian aid. In fact, if Richard Holbrooke is serious about stabilizing Pakistan, he will have to really to take control of the civilian aid issue.

In addition to civilian economic aid, Islamabad also needs a realistic and comprehensive strategy to overcome the colossal challenges that are destroying Pakistan’s future. Ironically, good governance is not easy in a country like Pakistan. For decades, corruption has been a cancer in Pakistani society and this issue has to be taken into account without blaming any particular government.

Lack of trust in successive governments by Pakistanis is another problem that won’t go away. Repeated military inventions have destroyed democratic institutions. Add to this mix the overall deteriorating economic, political and social situation in the country. If all this was not enough, the dangerously high birth rate in Pakistan has been eating away whatever little progress was made in any particular field. More alarmingly, the recent rise in suicide attacks against Pakistan and the military operation against the evil Taliban has jolted Pakistan to its very core. Further exasperating the situation is the horrific power shortage across Pakistan that is playing havoc with lives, and businesses. In other words, there are mountains of serious challenges for Pakistan to tackle, and Islamabad lacks the means to deal with so many issues threatening the country. Therefore, Holbrook will have to understand that Pakistan’s problems are inter-linked. Washington cannot single out one particular problem to assist Pakistan. The aid and assistance has to be designed to address all issues at once, otherwise, the vicious cycle of problems multiplying will continue.

The recent Al-Jazeera poll demonstrated, once again, the growing anti American sentiment in Pakistan. Since Pakistanis don’t trust America at the moment, Richard Holbrooke’s visits actually compound the problem instead of improving American image in Pakistan. In fact, every time Holbrooke visits Pakistan, the anger towards Washington intensifies. Moreover, Holbrooke’s recent suggestion that the military operation should be expanded to Waziristan has given more ammunition to leading American critics in Pakistan. Holbrooke should have delivered this message quietly to the government, if it was necessary.

Also, Holbrooke is meeting people from all walks of life, but this effort too is back firing because these people, especially members of the religious parties go on television and boast that they told Holbrooke and most of the time it is not pleasant.

Richard Holbrooke also met people from all walks of life in Karachi, but there is no reason to believe that these meetings either improve America’s image or help Holbrooke understand anything that he already doesn’t know.

By now, Americans know very well how Pakistanis view America.

If America is really serious about helping Pakistan get out of the current mess, as well as winning the ‘hearts and minds’ across Pakistan, they should scale back their activities in Pakistan. The fact that Americans are constructing a new super embassy in Islamabad which according to a report will house 350 marines, is not the way to convince Pakistanis that America is a friend.

If and when the economic and social situation in Pakistan started getting better with the help of Americans and the results of these improvements were felt by the masses, it would become easier for America to claim that Washington is an ally and a friend. Therefore, Holbrooke should work out the details of directly financing projects that Pakistan desperately needs instead of handing over money to Islamabad. This is the best way to ease the pain at the grocery store, and at the petrol pump etc. Similarly it is equally important to urgently address the on-going energy crisis in Pakistan. This is the quickest way to uplift Pakistan, because when Pakistanis notice the overall improvement in the country, anti American sentiment would automatically go down.

100 American visas for businessmen in Karachi, as announced by Holbrooke during a meeting with the business community will not help, despite being a good effort because these businessmen already have valid visas for the U.S.

Winning hearts and minds in Pakistan is not going to be easy if Holbrooke shows up every couple of months to tell Pakistanis what they need to do. This is considered interference and it adds fuel to the already burning fire of anti-American sentiment. Holbrooke should rely on American embassy’s staff in Islamabad to give him the actual situation about the difficulties faced by ordinary people. As long as ordinary Pakistanis are in pain, it would be impossible for Americans to connect with any segment of the society.

The time has come for Washington to make a decision vis-à-vis Pakistan and its future. If Washington wants to continue on this path which results in unfriendly public, fine. However, if the Americans are honestly attempting to help Pakistanis, they must work on a different plan to directly invest to tackle the multiple crises about to swallow country’s future.