If there was a
protagonist in the WikiLeaks cables released last week, it would be a petite, blond,
Arkansas-born career diplomat, Anne Patterson, who until recently had been the
U.S ambassador to Pakistan.
Patterson stars in a
Pakistan-based soap opera -- potential names include: "As Pakistan
Burns," "Dynasties," "Mental Hospital," and "The Bold and the
Pitiful" - and serves as a confidant and key influencer for Pakistan's
elites as they wage war with one another and vie for U.S. approbation, seen as
a prerequisite for high office in Pakistan.
Each episode contains its fair share of salacious gossip and
intrigue. A former Pakistani prime minister tells
Patterson that her government did well to choose his country's new army
chief. He then proceeds to explain to her why he's
pro-American. A bearded, burly, pro-Taliban politician asks her to
consider him for the premiership as he wines and dines her (he actually
probably served her Pepsi or a new Pakistani favorite, Mountain Dew). The
Pakistani president tells
her the army's out to kill him and that he's going to go after a
major opposition leader and political opponent. The
interior minister confides
in her, claiming that the army, judiciary, the Saudis, and two other
political parties are conspiring against his government. The army chief tells
her that he distrusts the major opposition leader as much as he dislikes
the president.
Patterson is part
peacekeeper and part therapist for Pakistan's dysfunctional and
destructive power elite. Were she a licensed mental health professional,
Patterson would have likely diagnosed Pakistan's major power brokers as
collectively afflicted with paranoia (justifiable, given their perpetual
plotting) and an inferiority complex.
She essentially does
that in one of her cables, commenting:
"The fact that a former
Prime Minister believes the U.S. could control the appointment of Pakistan's
Chief of Army Staff speaks volumes about the myth of American influence here."
The capacity of Pakistan's power brokers to defy the United States
is well-demonstrated. Pakistan developed a nuclear bomb despite U.S.
opposition. Its military-intelligence establishment continues to aid Afghan
insurgents while receiving billions in U.S. aid. Its politicians deflect U.S.
pressure to engage in positive economic and social reform, despite a sinking
economy and their utter dependence on Washington for protection against a
military and general public that revile them.
Indeed, when Sheikh Rashid Ahmed -- a populist politician,
military establishment tool, active lifelong bachelor, and political fortune
teller -- was asked if it's true that Pakistani politicians lie to their own
people and tell U.S. officials the truth, he said: "[No,] they lie to the
Americans too."
The one politician who proves to not to lie to the Americans and his own people is former cricket star and playboy-turned philanthropist and
center-right politician, Imran Khan. He offers
a U.S. congressional delegation the same message he repeats regularly in
political rallies and on talk shows in Pakistan: the U.S. war in Afghanistan is
destabilizing Pakistan, and only a political solution to the Pashtun
insurgencies along the Durand Line can bring a lasting peace to Afghanistan and
Pakistan. Khan, unfortunately, has been unable to develop a serious political
machine since founding his own political party in 1996.
Ambassador Patterson has left the show, but the Pakistani soap
opera continues. Viewers get their daily dose of drama. But the poor South
Asian country is veering toward tragedy with a rapidly growing population and
stagnant economic growth. Pakistanis are stuck with their power elite, who
prove to be a pathetic, lowly lot. Even the U.S charge d' Affairs in Islamabad
notes that Zardari "continues
to play politics while his country disintegrates." For
Pakistanis, the show must go on. But with their myopic, rapacious elite, it'll
take a revolution to change the narrative.
Arif Rafiq is president of Vizier Consulting,
LLC, which provides strategic guidance on Middle East
and South Asian political and security issues. He writes at the Pakistan Policy Blog.
(4)
HIDE COMMENTS LOGIN OR REGISTER REPORT ABUSE