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| India-Pakistan | |
| MEMRI: Role of Pakistani Mercenaries in the Middle East | |
| 2011-04-19 | |
| "'Foreign policy is everywhere and always a continuation of domestic policy, for it is conducted by the same ruling class and pursues the same historic goals.' -- The Revolution Betrayed, Leon Trotsky "In his 1983 masterpiece 'Can Pakistain Survive? The Death of a State,' Tariq Ali opens the section on Pakistain's foreign policy during the Z. A. Bhutto days with the above quote from Trotsky. After duly recognizing the limitations of generalizing this aphorism, Tariq Ali noted that many third-world capitals pursue a foreign policy closely mirroring their domestic economic and political policies, but perhaps none has done so more grotesquely than Islamabad. "Tariq Ali wrote: 'One of the commodities exported was labor, and the remittances sent back by migrant workers provided nearly 20 percent of the country's foreign exchange earnings. It was also reported that 10,000 Pak hookers had been dispatched to the Gulf states by the United Bank Limited (UBL), to strengthen its reserves of foreign currency. Soldiers and officers were also leased out as mercenaries to a number of states in that region. In some ways it was a telling indictment of the Pak state that it can only survive by selling itself to the oil-rich sheikhs.' "The Pak military establishment's cooperation with Arab dictators obviously dates back to the Ayub Khan era and the UK and U.S.-sponsored Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO) or Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... Pact of 1955. However, The flatulent However... the surge in the export of mercenaries that Tariq Ali was alluding to was not because of the Western sponsorship of such legions but because Pakistain, in 1971, had declared a moratorium on repayment of its foreign debt and had to look for financial aid... "While one cannot confirm the veracity of the claim about the UBL venture, the events of the last several months show that somehow the grotesque mediocrity of the Pak establishment keeps repeating its antics, as far as the export of mercenaries goes. " "The Saudi Plan, Just as in the 1969 Bombing of Yemen by Pak Pilots Flying Saudi Planes, is to Use the Trusted Pak Troops to Bolster the Defense of... Client States Like Bahrain" "The Arab spring has created unique geopolitical scenarios where old alliances are falling apart -- or at least are no longer trustworthy -- while new realities are taking shape much to the discontent of regional autocrats. I have repeatedly stated that [U.S. President] Barack B.O.Obama's instinct is to side with the democratic movements in the Middle East and North Africa, without intervening directly, even though cliques within his administration have been able to drag him into the Libyan morass. Obama's handling of Hosni Mubarak's ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... fall did not go well with Saudi king Abdullah and the bitter exchange between the two, during a phone conversation, is rather well known. "The wily Saudi monarch subsequently concluded that if there were to be an uprising in his courtyard, the Americans would not come to his rescue. And unless a smoking gun can be traced to Tehran, Abdullah is right. With Obama getting [likely] re-elected... in 2012, the Saudis have chosen to exercise other options that they have heavily invested in, for decades, to protect their courtyard and backyard. "The Saudis know that it is nearly impossible for any political uprising there to physically coalesce, due to the population centers being geographically far apart, to cause direct threat to Riyadh. But they also know that the democratic contagion can spread at the periphery of the Kingdom, with the oil-rich Eastern province slipping out of control quickly or the disquiet at the Yemeni border keeping Riyadh distracted (the latter was tested by both Gamal Nasser and Iran). The Saudi plan, just as in the 1969 bombing of Yemen by Pak pilots flying Saudi planes, is to use the trusted Pak troops to bolster the defense of not only the Saudi regime but of its client states like Bahrain." "Pak-Saudi Interests are at Odds with the U.S. and are Confluent with Each Other...; The Pak Deep State [i.e. the Military] Apparently has Decided to Keep Selling Itself to the Oil-Rich Sheikhs" "It is not a surprise then that before Soddy Arabia invaded Bahrain on March 13, 2011, the chief of Saudi Land Forces, General Abdul Rahman Murshid visited Pakistain and before that, on March 9, met General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... [chief of Pakistain Army]. Bahrain had already requested and received assurance for military help from Pakistain in late February 2011. In fact, a leading Urdu paper carried an advertisement from the Fauji Foundation Pakistain on February 25 and March 1, seeking men for recruitment to the Bahrain National Guard. The qualifications sought were the following: age 20-25, height of six-feet or taller
"After the Saudi army brutally crushed the uprising in Bahrain, the foreign minister of Bahrain, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, met with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and the State Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar [in Islamabad]. While the Bahraini media splashed pictures of the handshake between Ms. Khar and Sheikh Khalid, announcing Pak support to Bahrain, the actual backing had been pledged by the chief of general staff, General Khalid Shamim Wayne, whom the Bahraini minster met on March 29. "In her article titled 'Bahrain or Bust?,' [journalist] Miranda Husain writes: '[Noam] Chomsky ...intellectual and political theorist of a socialist persuasion. He is noted for being so far out in left field he can't see the shortstop on every issue he pushes... believes the Pak presence in Bahrain can be seen as part of a U.S.-backed alliance to safeguard Western access to the region's oil... The U.S. has counted on Pakistain to help control the Arab world and safeguard Arab rulers from their own populations... Pakistain was one of the 'cops on the beat' that the Nixon administration had in mind when outlining their doctrine for controlling the Arab world.' Ms. Husain and the American Baba-e-Socialism (Father of Socialism), Chomsky, conclude with the hope that Pakistain should not meddle in the Middle East. "I believe that Chomsky's reading of the situation in the Persian Gulf is dead wrong. It is the divergence -- not confluence -- of U.S.-Saudi-Pak interests that is the trigger for potential Pak involvement there. The Pak brass' handling of the Raymond Davis affair and now its insistence -- through bravado, not subtlety -- on redefining the red lines with the U.S. indicates that just like the 1971 situation, an alternative funding source to the IMF has been secured. The Pasha-Panetta meeting has raised more issues than it has solved.[3] Pak-Saudi interests are at odds with the U.S. and are confluent with each other. "From the Kerry-Lugar Bill to the Raymond Davis saga, the mullahs [holy mans] have been deployed swiftly to create an impression of public support for the establishment's designs. Last Friday's mobilization of the religious parties in favor of the Saudis is the establishment's standard drill and will be repeated as needed. The Pak deep state [i.e. the military] apparently has decided to keep selling itself to the oil-rich sheikhs. The domestic policy of coercion and chaos will be continued in foreign lands too." | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #8 The world of today reminds me of the book "Soldier Ask Not" by Gordon Dickson. Basically in the far future you have two groups of Mercenaries, the DORSAI who are super-soldiers, and the FRIENDLYS who are overly religious canon-fodder. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2011-04-19 23:22 |
| #7 Pakistanis have also been hired on as police in Bahrain, and work in a mercenary capacity in several sub-Saharan nations. In Zimbabwe, for example' they've functioned as 'police' helicopter pilots and aviation support, with reported training roles as well. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2011-04-19 22:37 |
| #6 The Pak deep state [i.e. the military] apparently has decided to keep selling itself to the oil-rich sheikhs. The domestic policy of coercion and chaos will be continued in foreign lands too." Posted by: Fred Particularly Afghanistan. Attempts at repairing earthen berms or fences (Taliban border infiltration and smuggling routes) are generally met by Pakistani Border Guard threats to open fire. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2011-04-19 21:35 |
| #5 I'm just p*ssed that Americains are getting screwed out of a contract (and money) they deserve in favor of a bunch of co-religionists that can barely chew gum and walk. P.S. The reason they do this is because the US will come rescue them anyway. |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2011-04-19 18:50 |
| #4 I'm with you, grom. But, as they sow, so shall they reap, and with any luck the Arabs and the Pakis will all get royally reaped. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2011-04-19 18:00 |
| #3 One of the sad developments in the Middle East has been the cancelling of American training/maintenance contracts in the Middle East and replacement by Paki mercinary trainers and technicians. These men aren't nearly as good (and the Arabs know it). The result is that most of their fancy equipment is rusted junk. I don't think it's sad. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2011-04-19 15:45 |
| #2 "Are there many tall Pakistanis?" My friends are, tw. Ali and the other men in his family are well over 6 feet tall. Not sure where in Pakistan they originally came from - I've only know them as Americans. (For some reason, I tend to think of tall Pakistanis as coming from the north of the country, but that thinking may be influenced by the tall aboriginals in the north of Japan.) |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2011-04-19 13:40 |
| #1 Paki mercinaries have been a feature in the Middle East for several decades. For many years, they had a reputation of being (compared to the Arabs) good soldiers. Then our troops had extensive contact with them in Somalia. The upshot is our troops did not trust the Pakis at all. The Black African troops were much better. My friends said that you could give a bunch of American mall rats M-4s and they would do just as good a job. One of the sad developments in the Middle East has been the cancelling of American training/maintenance contracts in the Middle East and replacement by Paki mercinary trainers and technicians. These men aren't nearly as good (and the Arabs know it). The result is that most of their fancy equipment is rusted junk. |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2011-04-19 11:40 |