US and Pak fighting different wars on terror under one banner: CSM

Washington, Sept 24 : Though Pakistan is one of the key alliance partners of the US in its global war on terror, the two are fighting different wars. While Pakistan is seeking domestic security while joining the US-led war on terror, the US fights for stability for Afghans.

The US has recently stepped up unilateral strikes in Pakistan as Washington becomes increasingly convinced that the Pakistani Army lacks either the will or ability to neutralize domestic terrorists. "Yet Pakistanis counter that their Army is currently engaged in two offensives so large that they have displaced 300,000 people in areas bordering Afghanistan," said a report in the Christian Science Monitor (CSM).

According to the report, the different assessments of Pakistan's effort reflect the two nations' different goals in fighting terrorism. While Pakistan wants peace within its borders. America prioritizes peace in Afghanistan, where security has deteriorated significantly this year, it said and added that the two aims were not always congruous, and this disconnect was a fundamental part of rising tensions between the allies.

"Within the broader interest of fighting terrorism, their goals are divergent," the paper quoted Moeed Yusuf, an analyst at Boston University, as saying.

The report further said that America wants Pakistan to target terrorists that Pakistan has long tolerated. Since militancy emerged in Pakistan in the 1980s, Pakistan has sought to manage certain terrorist networks, not destroy them. Often, these terrorists have no grievance with Pakistan but use Pakistan as a base to attack Afghanistan, added the report.

Zardari's control over the Army too is questionable. The Army has always been Pakistan's strongest institution and loath to accept civilian oversight, meaning it could set its own agenda, regardless of what Zardari wants. Neither of the Army's current offensives - in the tribal agency of Bajaur or the Swat Valley - was initiated by civilian leaders.

ANI