Pakistan is paying the price for trying to be a real sovereign state.
ByBrig. Saleem Qamar Butt (R) | April 2022
The history of American interventions and regime change pursuits in various countries is too well established, yet a recapitulation is necessitated in view of the current political impasse in Pakistan due to an unprecedented fight back by the elected Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Since the 19th century, the United States has participated and interfered, both overtly and covertly, in the replacement of several foreign governments. In the latter half of the 19th century, the U.S. government initiated actions for regime change mainly in Latin America and the southwest Pacific, including the Spanish–American and Philippine–American wars. At the onset of the 20th century, the United States shaped or installed governments in many countries around the world, including neighbours Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.
During World War II, the United States helped overthrow many Nazi German or Imperial Japanese regimes. Examples include regimes in the Philippines, Korea, the Eastern portion of China, and much of Europe. United States forces were also instrumental in ending the rule of Adolf Hitler over Germany and of Benito Mussolini over Italy. In the aftermath of World War II, the U.S. government struggled with the Soviet Union for global leadership, influence and security within the context of the Cold War.
Under the Eisenhower administration, the U.S. government feared that national security would be compromised by governments propped by the Soviet Union’s own involvement in regime change and promoted the domino theory, with later presidents following Eisenhower’s precedent.
Subsequently, the United States expanded the geographic scope of its actions beyond the traditional area of operations, Central America and the Caribbean. Significant operations included the United States and United Kingdom-orchestrated 1953 Iranian coup d’état, the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion targeting Cuba, and support for the overthrow of Sukarno by General Suharto in Indonesia.
In addition, the U.S. has interfered in the national elections of countries, including Italy in 1948, the Philippines in 1953, and Japan in the 1950s and 1960s as well as Lebanon in 1957. According to one study, the U.S. performed at least 81 overt and covert known interventions in foreign elections during the period 1946–2000. Another study found that the U.S. engaged in 64 covert and six overt attempts at regime change during the Cold War.
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the United States has led or supported wars to determine the governance of a number of countries. The stated U.S. aims in these conflicts have included fighting the War on Terror, as in the Afghan War with forced involvement of Pakistan, or removing self-declared dictatorial and hostile regimes on flimsy grounds, as in the Iraq, Libya, Somalia and Syrian wars.
Speaking specifically about Pakistan, the intrigues that commenced with the assassination of Prime Minister Liaqat Ali khan on October 16, 1951 fast forwarded to murder of yet another Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on 27 December 2007 at the same venue in Rawalpindi. Sadly, state inquiries of both cases were kept in wraps and justice remained wanting. The removal of President Ayub Khan through a coloured revolution of its own time in 1969 after his book addressed to the American “Friends not Masters”, soon resulted in loss of East Pakistan in December 1971 and rise of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as prime minister. However, Bhutto also met an unfortunate end in 1977 for pursuing the Pakistan nuclear programme, holding an OIC Summit in Pakistan and on charges of murdering his political opponents. His successor President General Zia-ul-Haq was also killed in a mysterious air crash in 1988 for becoming too strong to unify the OIC and pushing up Pakistan’s nuclear programme in defiance to the West. President General Pervez Musharraf was also removed from the political scene as soon as he was considered unable to deliver on the ever expanding Western ‘do more’ list.
The opposing winds for Prime Minister Imran Khan started getting stronger from October/ November 2021 as media created a lot of hype on the purported tiff between the civilian government and the Army, particularly on posting of Chief Intelligence head. From the same period onwards, the unparalleled and excessive interaction by American diplomats with the opposition and government allies in the parliament as covered by the national media. It finally led to a situation where dozens of politicians from the PTI and allies parties were reported to have been bribed with hefty sums and cocooned in Islamabad in the Sindh House, MNA Hostel and the Marriott hotel.
The alleged sale and purchase continued for weeks without the law of the land coming into action to develop required evidence and apprehend the sacred votes and unsacred soul sellers. The opposition after buying or allying the required a number of votes, moved a No Confidence Motion in the National Assembly. Earlier, on March 27, a cable of Pakistan ambassador in the USA, discussed in National Security Committee on 28th March and was displayed by PM Imran Khan and subsequently a demarche was issued to US embassy in Pakistan.
On 3rd April 2022, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly and the Prime Minister used the notion of hostile foreign interference as the main political argument to dismiss the no-confidence motion and dissolve the National Assembly.
“Is foreign intervention into the domestic political affairs and governance of Pakistan, a reality”, was the query the answer to which needed to be explored in light of afore-stated facts. The most recent example of such an effort was seen in Kazakhstan, which was defeated in cooperation with Russia. However, in Pakistan’s case, the outgoing Prime Minister should have timely initiated a thorough probe as regards meetings and provision of funding by foreign diplomats and undercover officers and its further distribution to saleable commodities in Pakistan. The turncoats and politicians alleged to be working in nexus with hostile countries/ agencies should have been apprehended by the concerned agencies and put to trial instead of desperate dissolution of the National Assembly.
As for the diplomatic cable, after immediate discussion in the National Security Council the response should have taken a couple of days through diplomatic channels instead of being waved by the PM in a public gathering. The American Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu was asked a specific question for threatening Pakistan with a regime change, which he did not deny. An American spokesperson later denied the allegations while Russian spokesperson condemned the USA’s regime change attempt in Pakistan.
There have been many thorns in the eyes of the West: Pakistan’ strategic alliance with China, CPEC project, refusal to give military bases or provide the US covert footprints in Pakistan after exit from Afghanistan, refusal to budge on its strategic nuclear and missile capabilities, non-acceptance of dictation of India on Kashmir, PM’s long awaited but ill-timed visit to Russia, abstention from voting in the UN against the Russian invasion of Ukraine and holding of an OIC Foreign Ministers Conference.
A defiant and self-respecting leader in Pakistan or in the Islamic world therefore has to be on the hit list of the West as comprehensively covered in the “Confessions of Economic Hit man” by John Perkins and further vindicated by WikiLeaks, Edward Snowden papers and Panama papers….all successfully experimented by the USA and allies to create and use corrupt billionaires.
Regime change efforts in Pakistan is a constant factor that the country has lived with since 1948. The current political gridlock could usher Pakistan into becoming a real sovereign state.
Despite all-out efforts by the tainted politicians to drag the Army yet again into a contaminated political quagmire, the Pakistan Army has done well to stay clear and not allow the enemies to target the national centre of gravity. Nevertheless, irrespective of who is in the government, the national security apparatus remains responsible for defeating any regime change efforts in Pakistan, considering it as an invasion of national sovereignty. Finally, the international strategic imperative of gaining and maintaining diversity and multi-polarity in state policies should neither be under-estimated nor brushed aside by obsolete notions.
As a retired army officer, the writer has proficiency in military intelligence, diplomacy, strategic analyses, forecast and executive management. He can be reached at sqbutt61@gmail.com
In our country imran khan brought as a ruler by the inner military core sir. He doesn’t to rule the country. He depends on armed forces permanent help to rule for ten .10 years sir.
Dictator Imran Niazi loves the money sir.
In our country imran khan brought as a ruler by the inner military core sir. He doesn’t to rule the country. He depends on armed forces permanent help to rule for ten .10 years sir.
Dictator Imran Niazi loves the money sir.