U.S. has even greater stake in Pakistan than Georgia

Two days ago, we urged the Bush administration to pay attention to what is going on politically in the central African nation of Zimbabwe, because while it is not important to America’s national interest, there is a moral obligation. By contrast, the growing crisis in Pakistan in the wake of President Pervez Musharraf’s resignation does put our national security interests in jeopardy. Why?

Because Pakistan is on the frontline of President Bush’s war on global terrorism, and its border with Afghanistan has become Osama bin Laden’s base of operations for his global terror network.

Al-Qaida terrorists, along with Taliban fighters, are using the mountainous tribal areas of Pakistan as launching pads for attacks on coalition forces, led by the U.S., inside Afghanistan. Their goal is to bring about the collapse of the democratically elected government of Hamid Karzai in Kabul and the return of the Taliban Islamic extremists.

Lest we forget, the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America’s homeland were orchestrated by bin Laden while he and his al-Qaida organization were given safe haven in the mountain regions of Afghanistan by the Taliban rulers. The attacks, which resulted in more than 3,000 deaths, prompted a U.S.-led invasion that resulted in the government being ousted and bin Laden and members of his inner circle fleeing into the border regions.

Since then, al-Qaida has regrouped, the world’s leading terrorist has eluded capture or death, and Pakistani tribal chiefs are now providing him and his followers with hiding places.

Strong U.S. ally

While Musharraf was in power, the United States had a strong ally. President Bush made it clear on many occasions that the president of Pakistan, who was the target of three assassination attempts, was a true friend.

Unfortunately, Musharraf became power hungry and went so far as to suspend the constitution, imprison his critics and fire the chief justice and other justices of the senior court. This created a political backlash that resulted in his party losing control of parliament. In March, a new government was formed by a coalition of opposition parties and although Musharraf held on the position of president, the power of government was placed in the hands of the new prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gillani.

On Monday, Musharraf resigned from government, just as parliament was getting ready to start impeachment proceedings against him. And while there were initial street celebrations, Taliban militants launched suicide bombing attacks against government forces in northwest Pakistan.

In addition, there is the very real concern that homegrown terrorists aligned with Islamic extremist groups will undertake a campaign of death and destruction to weaken the governing coalition, which is already showing signs of unraveling.

The Bush administration, preoccupied with Russia’s invasion of the former Soviet republic of Georgia, cannot allow Pakistan to collapse politically. If Islamic extremists succeed in taking over the government, they will have control of a nuclear arsenal that would undoubtedly be used to threaten America’s allies.

And, with India also in possession of nuclear weapons, a preemptive strike by the historic enemies — they have fought three wars — becomes an even greater possibility.

The ultimate targets for global terrorists are the United States and its allies, and having a country like Pakistan in the hands of our enemies definitely puts American troops abroad in harm’s way.

President Bush, who hosted Prime Minister Gillani at the White House, must through words and actions make it clear that it is in America’s national security interests to have a stable, democratic government in Islamabad.