Arguing that the fight against terror is very much an economic uplift struggle, Pakistan's top diplomat in Washington has asked the United States to step up its effort toward creating jobs in the militancy-hit areas along Pak-Afghan border.
"If the United States cannot get the people on its side, then any number of bombings from high altitude are not going to change the ground reality," Ambassador Husain Haqqani told an American think tank.
"This is an ideological war, and it is an economic war. You have to create economic opportunities, because somebody who does not have a future is more likely to become a suicide terrorist than somebody who has a chance to earn a college degree," he added. Haqqani's comments came as Pakistan urged American Congressional action on two long-delayed initiatives - Kerry-Lugar assistance bill and Reconstruction Opportunity Zones - which on the one hand are meant to spur economic hope for people in the underdeveloped areas and on the other signal a long-term US commitment to the region.
The envoy said Pakistan is fully focused on fighting the menace of violent extremism along the Afghan border and rejected criticism of the country's efforts as unfair. "When the US government says they've been able to eliminate 13 of the top 20 al Qaeda leaders in the past 14 months, it hasn't been without Pakistani support," he said.
He urged the equivalent of the post-World War II Marshall Plan in Europe to create schools and clinics in Pakistan, where US neglect during the 1990s, after mobilising legions of holy warriors to fight Soviet occupiers, fostered "deep-seated anti-Americanism."
"I'd rather that people had the opportunity to make boxer shorts for Wal-Mart than IEDs for the Taliban," Haqqani said. Islamabad, he said, also needs more military technology including helicopters and night-vision gear that has been delayed by Congress. And Predator drones "need to be operated by Pakistanis" or deployed "with Pakistani participation" to minimise resentment. For its part, Pakistan 's government also is trying non-military tactics such as running a radio talk show, using US equipment, in the contested Swat Valley, he said.
"Isn't it sad that the non-military approach is only now starting?" Haqqani said. After US forces in 2001 helped topple the Taliban, Americans "talked victory" and neglected the region again. Today, "it's much easier to get support for a quick war than a war that helps change people," he said. "It's easier to get Americans to support a car industry bailout in this country" than a comprehensive campaign to stabilise the place where 9/11 attackers hatched their plot".
Meanwhile, an American newspaper, The Denver Post has appreciatively noted the Pakistani envoy's call for US economic commitment to the region. In an interaction with the editorial board of the newspaper, Haqqani said Americans should realise the recent anti-militancy mood in his nation.
The Pakistani envoy cited recent survey figures and public trends indicating remarkably widespread opposition to al Qaeda and Taliban militants among the Pakistani people. In a commentary in the paper notes Haqqani's contention that the Taliban in Afghan border region is vulnerable because of its tenuous composition and discusses his call for a massive US economic stimulus program as a way to blunt Talibanisation.
"There are the hard-core Taliban that are connected to al Qaeda ideologically. Then there are people with local grievances. They don't have an ideological agenda. They're looking for a deal. And then the third category is ordinary people who've just been swept up in all of this." Haqqani adds the hard core militants can be defeated with force and the rest can be peeled off by changing the "economic, social and political environment" in which the Taliban is able to recruit.