Experts underline Pakistan central to world's extremist worries

Daniel Markey's book offers observations about the underpinnings of Pakistani- US relations

Carol Forsloff--Five years ago the Obama White House said this - “The safe havens for violent extremist groups within Pakistan continue to pose an intolerable threat to the United States, to Afghanistan, and to the Pakistani people.  Have things changed?

What the United States found in 2010 offered allegations in the war logs that Pakistan‘s Inter-Services Intelligence has been covertly supporting the Taliban.  This brought about strong statements from the White House, finding the situation “unacceptable.”


More than 180 intelligence files in the war logs, most of which could not be confirmed at the time, detailed accusations that Pakistan’s premier spy agency has been supplying, arming and training the insurgency since at least 2004.

The Obama administration, during that tim gave $1bn a year in military aid to Pakistan did not challenge the veracity of the files, but said that while Islamabad was making progress against extremism, “the status quo is not acceptable”.

The White House is urging Pakistan’s military and intelligence services to “continue their strategic shift against violent extremists groups within their borders, and stay on the offensive against them”.

Pakistan denied the allegations and would not make further comments. It did,however, the general allegations as “far-fetched and unsubstantiated”.  It was also found, after examination of the files by those outside the Obama administration, that there had been little convincing evidence  behind Afghan accusations that the ISI is the hidden hand behind the Taliban.

“The vast majority of this is useless,” a retired US officer with long experience in the region told the Guardian at the time of the Obama revelations.”There’s an Afghan prejudice that wants to see an ISI agent under every rock.”

But he said the allegations chime with other US reporting, collected by other agencies and at a higher classification, that pointed to ISI complicity with the Taliban. “People wouldn’t be making up these stories if there wasn’t something to it. There’s always a nugget of truth to every conspiracy theory,” he said.

And do Pakistani writers add to the issue, given the fact that bloggers as well as journalists are involved in making statements that need substantiation?  The world has plenty of people who offer information, as well as opinions, many with little or no background of study on the part of the world presently involved in controversy.

And while Pakistan has been high profile in the news at times, the issues in some of its provinces reveals the Taliban remains strong in some regions, as observed by the attack on children in Peshawar, where extremists are said to reside in considerable numbers.  In December 2014, 130 children, most of whom were children, were attacked, seemingly simply to strike fear in those seeking an education and to underline the presence of this extremist group, as reported by the United Nations.

Business Insider also tells us in a report recently that ISIS is gaining strength both in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  

Given the US concern expressed in 2010, and the uptick in violence by extremists, it is likely Pakistan will continue to be in the cross-hairs of extremism for some time, according to experts who have researched problems related to the region.

At the same time, while the world's readers sort out the issues of Pakistan and other hot spots. journalism experts remind these same readers to examine the backgrounds of those who are doing the reporting as well, given the fact that extremism is not just a part of terrorist behavior but the pen as well.  And in that old adage, it can be, at times, mightier than the sword.  Blogs are used by terrorist groups and individuals as well as those who offer clear, cogent information about the area.

Pakistan, while suffering its own blows by extremists, is central in many ways to the conflicts in the Middle East, according to some of the treatises recently.  Writers who focus on a balance in writing and opinion, with necessary facts and with training in the particulars of the area and in world affairs, can help the rest of the world by doing the right thing with their writing, according to those who seek a global venture in the writing activities of the region.

The fact that Pakistan has a nuclear arsenal is also a primary worry, so that how the US is able to get past the history of its tormented relationship with the country and find new ways of moderating extremists, whether in the public square or in print, the better off the US will be in its efforts to help maintain peace in the region.  Daniel Markey's book, No Exit from Pakistan, may be a helpful reference to that end, as he underlines what strategies need to be taken for the US to improve relations and recognize the difficulties faced in doing so by knowing in more detail the regional dynamics.