Anti-American sentiment sweeps across Pakistan
By Edward Luce and Farhan Bokhari, Jan 04, 2003

Relations between the US and Pakistan have frequently come under strain since Islamabad joined Washington's anti-terror coalition in September 2001. But the two countries have mostly succeeded in keeping their frictions out of the public eye.

That guard now appears to be slipping. Yesterday a senior US military official caused outrage in Pakistan when he said that American troops had the right at any time to cross into Pakistan on counter-terrorist operations.

It followed an exchange of fire between US soldiers and a Pakistan border guard last weekend that provoked a US bombing raid on a religious school in which the guard had apparently taken refuge.

US and Pakistan officials disagree as to whether a 500lb bomb fell on Pakistan or Afghanistan soil. But after yesterday's assertion of the US army's right to "hot pursuit" that disagreement seems academic.

Instead, the focus is increasingly turning to what appears to be a surge of anti-American feeling in Pakistan. "Anti-Americanism is the issue that unites almost all shades of political opinion in Pakistan," said a senior western diplomat. "Six months ago it would not have even figured except among the Islamist parties."

Why have Pakistan's 140m people turned so vehemently against the US? Husain Haqqani, a former adviser to two Pakistan prime ministers, says that Pakistanis fear that the fraught history of US-Pakistan relations is repeating itself.

They think of the 1980s, when the US established warm relations with the military ruler Zia-ul-Huq because it needed Islamabad's help in ousting Soviet occupying forces from Afghanistan.

Once the Soviets had been defeated, Washington quickly reverted to a critical stance over Pakistan's relations with "rogue" states such as North Korea and its nuclear weapons programme.

Today, Washington needs the co-operation of General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military president, in its hunt for the remnants of al-Qaeda and the Taliban. But friction is growing as time goes on, especially with the reappearance of Pakistan's apparently unbroken clandestine ties with North Korea.

"The similarities with the 1980s are striking," said Mr Haqqani. "I don't think there is anyone in Pakistan who believes that America wants a lasting relationship. They believe Washington will dump Pakistan without a second thought once it has served [US] interests."

In a speech last week Gen Musharraf implied much the same thing - albeit in the context of Pakistan's continued dispute with India over the divided state of Kashmir.
Many in Pakistan had hoped that Islamabad's co-operation in the war on terror would be rewarded by Washington's assistance to push India to the negotiating table on Kashmir. Instead, the US and its allies routinely describe Pakistan-trained "freedom-fighters" in Kashmir as "terrorists". India appears to have won the diplomatic game. "Nobody will come to our assistance [against India]," said Gen Musharraf. "We have to fight alone ourselves."

Aslam Beg, one of Gen Musharraf's predecessors as head of Pakistan's military, says America is also in danger of repeating its mistakes in Afghanistan, which has allegedly dropped off Washington's list of priorities.

"Afghanistan is divided into five regions, each ruled by a separate warlord," said Gen Beg. "America seems to have forgotten the fact that instability in Afghanistan will swell the ranks of these ['terrorist'] groups as it did in the early 1990s."

On the US side, there is growing suspicion Pakistan is not providing all the support it can in the joint operations along the 2,400km Afghan-Pakistan border.
But there is still a strong sense that Gen Musharraf is the best leader Pakistan has got, in spite of misgivings about both his commitment to democracy and his ardour in closing down home-grown terrorist groups.

This view is also a source of deep resentment in Pakistan. "There is a mistaken belief in the Bush administration of 'après Musharraf le deluge'," said George Perkovich at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington. "This has encouraged the US to turn a blind eye to Gen Musharraf's manipulations of the democratic process."

But there is no reason to suppose that a genuinely civilian regime in Pakistan would have opposed the US anti-terror coalition, says Mr Perkovich. Furthermore, few believe there is any danger of Islamists taking power in spite of their strong showing in October's controversial national elections.

"Once again the US is backing a military regime at the expense of democracy," says Mr Haqqani. "Washington should not be surprised if this makes it unpopular with ordinary Pakistanis."

Thousands out in protests
Thousands of angry Pakistanis protested yesterday against the presence of US troops in the region, a possible attack on Iraq and what one banner called the "Holocaust of the Muslims", Reuters reports from Islamabad.

Demonstrators also burnt an effigy of President George W. Bush in nationwide protests organised by the MMA Islamic coalition. In the largest rallies, police looked on as around 2,000 people gathered in the central city of Multan, and similar numbers gathered in Lahore and in Quetta, near the Afghan border.

In Peshawar, another hotbed of anti-US sentiment, protesters burnt an effigy of Mr Bush and shouted "No war on Iraq".

But the coalition may be disappointed at the relatively low turnout for the protests.