Ambassador Husain Haqqani on “How Pakistan is Countering the Taliban”

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the Unites States Mr. Husain Haqqani has defended Pakistan’s Taliban strategy in the WSJ today.
Mr. Haqqani has excelled in the performance of his duties as Pakistan’s top diplomat in the U.S.; he has presented elaborate arguments rationalizing the recent policy decisions of Pakistani government vis-à-vis the Taliban. Even though I appreciate Mr. Haqqani’s diplomatic skills I strongly disagree with him. Certain claims made by Mr. Haqqani in his submission are faulty and biased:
According to Mr. Haqqani the panicked reactions of the type witnessed in the U.S. media over the last few weeks — after the Taliban drove into Buner, a town 60 miles north of the capital Islamabad — are not conducive to strengthening Pakistani democracy or to developing an effective counterterrorism policy for Pakistan. The panicked media reactions were not confined to the U.S. alone. The Pakistani media was equally rather more apprehensive of the Taliban’s entry into Buner. The scenes of a little boy selling newspapers on the streets of Lahore while shouting out the headlines as ‘Taliban have entered Islamabad’ reflected the anxiety and fear in the Pakistani media. Moreover, Mr. Haqanni needs to realize that counter-terrorism policy is based on empirical data and critical evaluations rather than merely media reports. 
The Ambassador holds that the recent offensive against the Taliban beyond their Swat Valley stronghold establishes Pakistan’s ability and willingness to deal with and defeat the Taliban. But why did the Taliban’s initial movement beyond Swat not face any offensive from the Government? I mean why were the Taliban allowed to make tactical advances before the Government acted against them? Why is the Pakistan Government willing to deal with the Taliban only when they move out of Swat? Is Sharia and Taliban good only for Swat and not for other regions?
According to Mr. Haqqani mobilizing all elements of national power, particularly public opinion, against the Taliban threat took time because many Pakistanis thought the Taliban were amenable to negotiations and would keep their word. The public opinion in Pakistan has been highly opposed the official policy of appeasing the Taliban and demands military action against the extremist forces.
The Swat Peace Deal is defended as being based on the successful pacification of Fallujah in Iraq by the U.S. forces. The situation in Swat and Fallujah cannot be compared. Fallujah opposition was local resistance against foreign forces; Swat was witnessing militant opposition to the authority of national government.
The inability of Pakistan to resolutely deal with the challenge of terrorism, according to Ambassador Haqqani, is because Washington has been reluctant to share the modern equipment, and to train Pakistan’s military in antiterrorism techniques. Few would accept this argument of the Ambassador. Pakistan has received huge amounts of military and non-military aid for countering terrorism. It seems that the present government is discounting all previous aid since it was utilized by a dictatorial regime. The U.S. cannot be held responsible if former President Musharraf misused the aid designated for enhancing counter-terrorism capabilities.
Pakistan’s security for Ambassador Haqqani would be predicated on Pakistan’s economic viability. This contention is partially correct because economic viability also dependent on political stability. The Ambassador fails to realize that Pakistan’s economic future cannot be carved merely through international aid; official policy for dispersing this aid is equally important. As long as Pakistan lacks stable and responsible political leadership, it’s strategic and economic future is in jeopardy. Fatima Bhutto has made an equally strong case against providing aid to Pakistan demonstrating that divergence of opinion exists on the issue of international aid.
All said and done I continue to marvel at Pakistan’s ability to diplomatically defend both its action and in-action in countering terrorism. Pakistan’s domestic stability may be questionable faulty but its diplomacy is indeed impressive.