Asim Munir's second visit to Washington a warning flare: Report

Washington, Aug 11 (IANS) Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir's recent visit to the United States - his second to the country since June - is being seen less as a genuine effort to strengthen bilateral ties and more as a bid to secure financial aid, political shield, and fresh channels of influence, all of which will be harnessed for Pakistan's "military-industrial-terrorism complex", a report cited on Monday.

The Pakistani military, the report mentioned, has pocketed American money, arms, and diplomatic protection since the Cold War, only to channel them into its own narrow and destructive agenda.

"In the 1980s, the US poured billions into Pakistan to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. Instead of building stability, Pakistan’s intelligence service, the ISI, nurtured the very jihadist networks that would later birth the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Osama bin Laden found shelter in Abbottabad, barely a stone's throw from Pakistan's premier military academy, even as Islamabad swore blind loyalty to Washington," a Global Order report highlighted.

It detailed how the 2000s saw the same "double game" where, under the Bush administration, Pakistan was a major non-NATO ally in the war on terror, and yet, the Taliban leadership operated freely from Pakistani soil.

"American troops in Afghanistan paid with their lives while Pakistan quietly provided safe havens, training, and arms to the insurgents killing them. The betrayal was not subtle; it was strategic," the report mentioned.

Pakistan continues to be a terror hub while claiming to combat terrorism. Its territory shelters internationally designated terrorist groups, including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, which target neighbouring countries, particularly India and Afghanistan, and propagate extremist ideology far beyond the region. These groups function under the protective cover of the Pakistani government, which directs their violent actions to further its geopolitical objectives. Pakistan's counter-terrorism narrative, the report stated, is a facade to ensure the continuation of US aid and weapon supplies.

Pakistan's growing involvement in US Central Command (CENTCOM) operations also raises concern, given its long history of duplicity.

The report stated that Islamabad's access to CENTCOM intelligence and planning could pose a serious risk to stability in the Middle East. With the Pakistani military maintaining strong connections with extremist networks and having a well-established track record of leaking sensitive intelligence reports to parties hostile to the US and allied interests, Islamabad's engagement in CENTCOM endangers operations in the Gulf and could provide radical elements with insight into American strategies in an already volatile region.

The report emphasised that if the US President Donald Trump or any US administration believes that Pakistan has reformed, they should consider the recent ground realities as the South Asian nation still harbours UN-designated terrorists, exports jihadists into its neighbourhood, and turns a blind eye to the radical preaching that fuels global extremism.

"If America falls for the pitch again, it will not only embolden Pakistan but also destabilise the region at a time when the US needs reliability in its partnerships. Asim Munir's second visit to Washington in a month should be read not as a sign of strengthening friendship, but as a warning flare: history is about to repeat itself. And when it does, the betrayal will be complete, again," the report noted.

--IANS

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