The demise of Henry Kissinger at an age of 100 years, on November 29, 2023, reminds me the role Pakistan has always played as a badly used, rather misused, ally of the United States of America. During the decade of 1970s the name of Kissinger was quite famous in Pakistan not only because of his close liaison with the Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto but this relationship between the Islamic Pakistan and the Jewish American NSA cum Secretary of State started from the days of military dictator and President of Pakistan, Aga Mohammad Yahya Khan.

As far as the close connection between Bhutto and Kissinger was concerned it was mainly due to Bhutto’s ideological affiliation with the Communist China while Kissinger was himself working to bridge the wide gulf between China and the United States. Bhutto could be one and the only reliable helping partner in building up this confidence between Americans and Chinese.

Among several interesting phenomena during the 75 years long history of Pakistan the love and hate kind of romantic affair between the United States and Pakistan is worth talking about. This romance started to flourish just three years after the independence of the nascent state when it’s very first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, decided to go to USA on his first official visit in 1950 – to the annoyance of USSR who had invited the prime minister to visit Moscow prior to the receipt of American invitation. This relationship peaked when Pakistan decided to enter into defense pacts named CENTO and SEATO at the behest of United States. Pakistan even violated the ethics of good neighborhood when she allowed Americans to use Pakistan Air Force Base at Peshawar for flying spy planes against Soviet Union. This illicit practice continued till Soviets shot down one American U-2 plane in 1960 and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev threatened Pakistan to wipe out the city of Peshawar from the map.

 

Again, in the decade of 1960s President J.F. Kennedy and President Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan restrengthened this bilateral friendship. The first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, also participated in this diplomacy by visiting Pakistan which was given extensive publicity in USA as well as in Pakistan. LIFE Magazine gave special coverage of her camel ride at the beach of Karachi city. That was the period in Pakistan’s history when American lifestyle and American ideals were romanticized by Pakistanis. Most of the car owners in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi preferred to drive American made Dodge, Cadillac, Ford and Chevrolet automobiles. As soon as television stations were set up, first at Lahore (1964) and then at Dhaka (1965) and Karachi (1966), American TV serials became everyone’s favorite. Dozens of theaters and cinema houses in every big city started showing Hollywood movies from morning (matinee shows) till midnight. The cosmopolitan port city of Karachi had an entertaining nightlife having several night clubs, pubs, ballrooms, dance halls, auditoriums and operas. On the other hand, another floodgate opened when American and European hippies started pouring in Pakistan looking for hashish, cultivated freely in the Northwest regions of Pakistan. Pakistan was on the path of becoming a free and liberal society. Americanization was all in the air! The transformation from a traditional to an open-minded modern country, through which Saudi Arabia and other gulf states are passing through today, Pakistan was experiencing in the years from 1950s to 1970s.   

Meanwhile, intermittent small gestures and events kept the spirits of masses in Pakistan high and their faith in US Pakistan friendship remained intact.  On one occasion a poor camel cart driver, Bashir Ahmad Sarban, who met the American vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson, on the streets of Karachi was invited to the United States where he met President of the United States in person. Another kind of American gimmick!    

One year before Jacquline Kennedy’s visit of Pakistan, the official tour of President Ayub Khan in July1961 had its own significance. Kennedy and Jacqueline personally received Pakistan’s president at the Air Force Base of Maryland and President Ayub was given the historic welcome on the streets of Washington DC. That was a rare protocol given to a smaller country but “a good ally”.

In the year 1979 once again US needed the services of Pakistan in the aftermath of Russian invasion of Afghanistan. A contingent plan was prepared, and a Frankenstein of Taliban was created by equipping and training the Pashtun and Afghan students of traditional Islamic schools, generally called Madrasahs, to fight and bleed Red Army till they retreated in 1989 and finally Soviet Union broke. After the fall of USSR in 1991 the warmth between US and Pakistan subsided till 9/11 happened. Since Pakistani establishment did not want to dismantle the created monster of Taliban a double game started which culminated in tracking down and termination of Osama Bin Laden in the vicinity of Pakistan Military Academy on May 2, 2011, by American Seals through an intruding operation.

What Pakistan gained and lost in this decade long American War against Soviet Union and who actually minted money during this phase of history shall be discussed sometime later. However, one sentence summary by General Zia-ul-Haque then President of Pakistan – who remained at the helm of affairs throughout this lengthy war till his C-130 military plane was blown in the air in August 1988 – sufficiently explains the regrets of the most relevant Army General of Pakistan. He said, “In this brokerage of charcoal we have blackened our own faces!”

This article shall remain incomplete without concluding the event that was mentioned at the start. In July 1971, Pakistan played another historic role – favoring her ally, the United States. Henry Kissinger decided to use good bilateral Sino-Pakistan friendship and contacted President of Pakistan General Mohammad Yahya Khan through the Ambassador of Pakistan in Washington, Agha Hilali, for breaking the ice between China and USA, when still the Vietnam War was going on. Henry Kissinger flew to the garrison city of Rawalpindi, on July 8, 1971, and from there he was taken by a special flight of Pakistan International Airlines on a secret mission to Peking (now Beijing). This pioneering mission paved way for the next year summit meeting between the American President Richard Nixon and Chinese leaders, Chairman Mao Zedong and Prime Minister Zhou Enlai. That was the beginning of a new era in International Politics. Nevertheless, within next six months of this Sino-American breakthrough the eastern wing of Pakistan, called East Pakistan, was invaded by India with the full support of an enraged Soviet Union and finally Pakistan was dismembered in December 1971. A much-touted diplomatic adventure backfired!  

Here it won’t be out of place to point out that the same Henry Kissinger, who won his Nobel Peace Prize in December 1973 for his efforts to end the war and restoring peace in Vietnam (Paris Peace Accords) was the actual mind behind the use of blatant power in Vietnam and Cambodia. The declassified documents have revealed that most of those more than 7.5 million tons bombs, dropped by American bombers on Vietnam and Cambodia, were ordered by none other than Henry Kissinger, the National Security Advisor. The world is now amazed to realize that the total bombing effect in Vietnam War was 100 times more than what it was in the whole Second World War, including nuclear bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.   

           

EPILOGUE

Since most of the Muslim states got independence from the colonial rule during 20^th century the influence of two superpowers, particularly that of the United States, determined the pace of progress and future destiny of these states. One way or another, almost all of these countries have depended, financially and technologically, on the West so the politics and governance in the Muslim World were grossly influenced either directly by the United States or through its western allies or through donor agencies: which were created by USA in the name of providing aid to the world, in need. Factually, it was luring bait to bring the dependent and destitute states into the net. The way each American ally like Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and Turkey have been treated could be somewhat customized and tailored, accordingly, but one aspect is certainly common that all of these relationships have been hate and love kind of affairs!

The bureaucracies, civil and military, of countries like Pakistan have considered it a prestige point to establish links with Americans who were in the administration or part of the influential think tanks. Politicians, the media persons and NGOs all over the Muslim world are also among major beneficiaries of this global bribery phenomenon. How these functionaries and influencers served the purpose of the United States and in return what they got is another engrossing story. We shall talk about some clandestine and some open linkages, between the puppeteers and puppets, in other articles.