The Duel

“Ali applies his caustic pen to descriptions of [Pakistan’s] leaders. . . . Ali offers strongly argued opinions on the past, and his preferred future, of Pakistani politics.”

—
Booklist

“Ali carefully examines Pakistan’s long, troubled relationship with America . . . intense, closely observed commentary on perilous developments in an unstable nation.”

—
Kirkus Reviews

“This is a provocative history . . . the narrative is analytical with an undertone of love for a people. . . .
The Duel
is an important book. . . . It is written in an engaging and accessible style. As the U.S. widens its war against those who would defy its designs into Pakistan, it becomes essential reading for anyone who refuses to accept the Orientalist narrative spewed by the policy makers in Washington, D.C.”

—Ron Jacobs,
CounterPunch

“Hard-hitting . . . a must-read.”

—
Atlantic Free Press

“The Duel
is a strongly written, well-argued, and readily accessible work.”

—
The Palestine Chronicle

“The Duel
offers a detailed and impassioned history.”

—Mohammed Hanif,
The Guardian
(UK)

“This sprightly romp should be read by anyone who wants real insights into Pakistan. It is as good a primer on Pakistani politics as you will find.”

—
The Spectator
(London)

P
AKISTAN ON THE
F
LIGHT
P
ATH OF
A
MERICAN
P
OWER

TARIQ ALI

SCRIBNER

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Copyright © 2008 by Tariq Ali

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Text set in Adobe Garamond

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2008018358

ISBN 978-1-4165-6101-9
ISBN 978-1-4165-6102-6 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4165-6118-7 (eBook)

Map on
p. xvi
is courtesy of the
New Left Review.

for
Tahira, Tauseef, Kamila, and Mishael,
four generations of Lahoris

Preface

1. Pakistan at Sixty: A Conflagration of Despair

2. Rewinding Pakistan: Birth of Tragedy

3. The Washington Quartet: The Man Who Would Be Field Marshal

4. The Washington Quartet: The General Who Lost a Country

5. The Washington Quartet: The Soldier of Islam

6. The Washington Quartet: The General as Chief Executive

7. The House of Bhutto: Daughter of the West

8. On the Flight Path of American Power

9. Operation Enduring Freedom: Mirage of the “Good” War

10. Can Pakistan Be Recycled?

Epilogue: The Zardari Interregnum

Index

B
OOKS HAVE A DESTINY
. T
HIS IS MY THIRD STUDY OF
P
AKISTAN
. The first,
Pakistan: Military Rule or People’s Power?,
was written in 1969 and predicted the breakup of the state. It was banned in Pakistan. Critics of every persuasion, even those who liked the book, thought it was going too far in suggesting that the state could disintegrate, but a few years later that is exactly what happened. Just over a decade later I wrote
Can Pakistan Survive?
The question mark was not unimportant but nonetheless struck a raw nerve in General Zia’s Pakistan, where to even pose the question was unacceptable. The general himself was extremely angry about its publication, as were sections of the bureaucracy, willing instruments of every despotism. Zia attacked both me and the book at a press conference in India, which was helpful and much appreciated by the publisher’s sales department. That book too was banned, but to my delight was shamelessly pirated in many editions in Pakistan. They don’t ban books anymore, or at least not recently, which is a relief and a small step forward.

When I left in 1963, the country consisted of West and East Pakistan. Eight years later the East defected and became Bangladesh. The population of the Western wing was then 40–45 million. It has grown phenomenally ever since and is now approaching the 200 million mark. The under-thirties constitute a majority.

This book centers on the long duel between a U.S.-backed politico-military elite and the citizens of the country. In earlier years the State Department would provide the seconds for the duel, but with U.S.
troops now in neighboring Afghanistan and U.S. bombs falling on homes inside Pakistan, the conflict is assuming a more direct form. Were it to proceed further, as some have been arguing in Washington, there is a distinct possibility that serious cracks would threaten the much-vaunted unity of the Pakistan military high command. The relationship with Washington, always controversial in the country, now threatens the Pakistan army. Political commentators in the United States together with a cabal of mimics in Pakistan regularly suggest that an Islamist revolution is incubating in a country that is seriously threatened by “jihadi terrorists.” The only function of such a wild assertion is to invite a partial U.S. occupation and make the jihadi takeover a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The most important aspect of the duel is not the highly publicized conflict in Waziristan, but the divide between the majority of the people and their corrupt, uncaring rulers. This duel is often fought without weapons, sometimes in the mind, but it never goes away. An important reason for the deep hostility to the United States has little to do with religion, but is based on the knowledge that Washington has backed every military dictator who has squatted on top of the country. With Pakistan once again a strategic asset, the fear is that Washington will do so again, since it regards the military as the only functioning institution in the country, without showing any signs of comprehension as to why this is the case. This book might help in this regard.

What explains my continuing interest in Pakistan? I was born and educated there. Most of my family still lives there, and in periods when I haven’t been banned from entering the country, I visit regularly. I enjoy running into old friends and acquaintances, especially now that most of them have retired from important positions and can speak openly and laugh again. I never feel alone in Pakistan. Something of me stayed behind in the soil and the trees and the people so even in bad times I am welcome.

I love the mountains. At least they can’t be skyscrapered and forced to look like Dubai. Palm trees, Gulf kitsch, and the Himalayas don’t mix, not that it prevents some from trying. The cityscapes are something else. They have greatly changed over the years; new unplanned and poorly designed buildings have wrecked most of the larger towns.
In Islamabad, the capital, one of the U.S. architects who built the city in the late sixties, Edward Stone, was unhappy with the site because it sat on a geological fault line and had weak soil. He advised that no building higher than three stories should ever be built there. He was ignored by the military dictator of the day. When a massive earthquake hit the country in 2005, buildings trembled all over Islamabad. I was there during the aftershocks, which were bad enough.

It was not only the earthquake that hurt Pakistan. This latest tragedy brought other wounds to the surface. A deeper and darker malaise, barely noticed by the elite and taken for granted by most citizens, had infected the country and was now publicly visible. The earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people shone a light on a country tainted by corrupted bureaucrats, army officers, and politicians, by governments rotten to the core, by protected mafias, and by the bloated profits of the heroin industry and the arms trade. Add to this the brutal hypocrisy of the Islamist parties, which exploit the state religion, and the picture is complete. Many ordinary people on the street, unsurprised by tales of privilege and graft, viewed the disaster in this context. At a state school in Lahore, students collecting toys for the children who’d survived the tragedy were asked whom they would like to address them. They voted unanimously against any politician, army officer, or civilian bureaucrat. They wanted a doctor.

None of this, of course, explains the urge to keep writing about a country. The reason is simple. However much I despise the callousness, corruption, and narcissism of a degenerate ruling elite, I have never allowed that to define my attitude toward the country. I have always harbored a deep respect and affection for the common people, whose instincts and intelligence, despite high levels of illiteracy, consistently display a much sounder appreciation of what the country requires than those who have lorded it over them since 1947. Any independentminded Pakistani journalist or writer will confirm this view.