But if these two reports are contextualised and read side-by-side another report that appeared in the sedate Dawn (July 1) the pubic spat Pakistan army is indulging in with the US raises certain doubts. The Dawn report by its correspondent Baqir Sajjad Syed quotes diplomatic sources to say, ‘In an indication of lessening tensions, diplomatic sources say, the two countries are set to resume their discussions on counter-terrorism cooperation under the rubric of Strategic Dialogue this week. The meeting will be held in Islamabad’.
Dawn report jells well with the ground reality in North Waziristan. As reported mostly by the highly influential Urdu dailies, Pakistan army has begun quite preparations for launch of operations in the North Waziristan. The army chief Gen Kayani has been touring the area to tighten the loose ends. Already an exodus has begun. About 250 families have moved out of Kurram and relief camps have come up in New Durrani village with a capacity to hold 1,500 families.
Kurram Agency is situated to the north of NWA; it has a large TTP presence and the army receives a considerable amount of support from the tribesmen here – especially the Turai – which is perhaps the reason for the decision to make the area the operations launch pad.
The Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar quoted in the Guardian report as saying “We have told them (US military) to leave the Shamsi airbase. They have already started to shift equipment (from the base) has said some thing else which the Pak Urdu press alone has reported thus far. Even a plain reading of the statement that appeared in the daily, Ibrat not only gives away the Pakistan game but also shows that the Pakistani establishment – civil as well as military have been trying to build a smoke screen to hide the reality of the cooperation with the US in the war against terror.
The Defence Minister, according to Ibrat, has openly admitted that Pakistani officials are well-aware of the Taliban’s whereabouts in Pakistan and it is not hard to trace them. There can be no big incriminating remark than this. Even if the statement is meant for the American leadership in a bid to secure a berth for Islamabad at the American negotiation table with the Taliban, it is also clear admittance to the fact that Pakistani agencies are privy to a lot of information but often play dumb deliberately in public.
Mukhtar speak also could be a part of steps to tamp down rhetoric. Because, visas for close to 70 CIA operatives have been issue afresh and more visas are said to be in the pipeline.
“We have instituted a new system by streamlining the procedures for grant of visas for CIA and US military personnel, which places a lot of emphasis on documentation and disclosure of exact nature of activities,” a senior government official told Dawn but from the tone and tenor of the comment it is clear that Pakistan army is trying to wriggle out of the knots it has tied itself in these past few days with the display of a bravado that has more to do with the public mood rather than operational arrangements.
Significantly, Dawn report concludes with the observation ‘If something else doesn’t go wrong in coming days, official statements from Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Washington would not be having the same bite that had become their hallmark over the past several weeks’.
Now whether this is all due to a real change of heart in Rawalpindi or a consequence of pure vanilla practices like behind-the-scenes strong-arm- twisting the US is known for matters little. That is because Pakistan army remains engaged with the US in the war on terror after taking the people of Pakistan on yet another wave of anti- Americanism to milk some more concessions from Pentagon.
Another message that comes from this episode is that Pakistan is still in no position to dump the US for China in military matters. And Pakistan government’s ‘diplomacy by headline’ in full public display since the furore over Raymond Davis saga is just a headline. Nothing more. Nothing less as the Shamsi base notice also tells.
Built by Arab Sheikhs from the United Arab Emirates to facilitate hunting falcon trips for the houbara bustard (, a rare bird some Arabs believe has aphrodisiac properties), Shamsi has been housing the Predator operations for the past seven –eight years. Operators at the base control the pilotless planes during takeoff but control quickly passes to a “reach back operator” sitting at a video screen thousands of miles away at the CIA headquarters in Langley Virginia. The New America Foundation, which tracks drone strikes, puts the strikes from Shamsi at 253 since 2004, with 42 so far this year. The death toll is ‘impressive’ – 2,464.
The latest drone attack on June 20 in Khurram took place from a CIA base in Afghanistan and not from Shamsi. It means the Americans are flying drones across the border and there is no bite in defence minister Mukhtar’s byte.
