Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), who recently expressed support for an independent Baluchistan in an article, is to chair a meeting of the US Congress Committee on Foreign Affairs to deliberate upon this region of Pakistan which has been regularly targeted by US drone attacks, today. "Perhaps we should even consider support for a Baluchistan carved out of Pakistan to diminish radical power there (in Pakistan)," Rohrabacher has written.
There are signs that a London-led project to separate Baluchistan from Pakistan has been given some impetus. "The objectives of such a move are many: To weaken a belligerent Pakistan; to create a buffer between Pakistan and Afghanistan; to secure a strong foothold along the southeastern borders of Iran; and to undo China's long-term plan to link up the Karakoram Highway in the north to the Arabian Sea via a land bridge running through Baluchistan," says Ramtanu Maitra in his article Baluchistan: Is US backing Longon's plan to dismember Pakistan?
Selig Harrison, a self-described US expert on the region, in his article for The National Interest of 3rd Feb 2011, argues that an independent Baluchistan must be supported since Pakistan has given Gwader in the heart of Baluchistan to China, and therefore, an independent Baluchistan would support USA' s regional interests and counter Islamist forces . Exactly how the Islamist forces will be countered by an independent Baluchistan is left unclear.
The Obama Administration has identified two enemies; China and Iran. The latter, is being perceived as a potential nuclear threat (a perception erected with no facts to back it up), which has lead to a US-led campaign to impose harsh sanctions, isolating Iran etc. At the same time, the US has tried to open up a dialogue with the Taliban, who are mostly Wahabis, and are thus avowed opponents of majority Shia Iran, as another way counter this perceived threat. The Taliban could not have opened office in Qatar without a nod from US and UK. A likely eventual Taliban government in Kabul would also ensure an unfriendly Afghanistan on Iran's eastern border. Never discussed is the question of why a nuclear Israel, which reportedly has some 300 nuclear weapons, is not a threat to the world while a potentially nuclear Iran would be.
Baluchistan plays a strong role in China's future development as a regional super power, and potential global super power. Pakistan minus Baluchistan pulls the rug out from under China's feet!
Pakistani retired Brigadier Shaukat Qadir, in an article carried exclusively by the blog pakpotpourri2 titled Another Conspiracy Theory, quotes a person he simply states as X, whom he corresponded with regarding the role and involvement in US in Pakistan. He quotes this source as saying:
"The US has concluded that the Pakistan army is part of the problem, not the solution; and that the interests of the Pakistan army are not identical with those of Pakistan. Consequently, the US has decided that the Pakistan army has to be cut to size and, if in the process of doing so, the Pakistan army is destroyed, so be it. And, I agree"
The article was in context with what came to be known as the Memogate scandal.
USA has her own interests in the Region. Of that, there is no doubt.
The American elephant is planning to gate crash into another China Shop. This elephant must be stopped. It is simply wrong to claim that by virtue of being a super power, the US has the right to act super bully.
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