Following independence in 1947, the Pakistani elite had great concerns about neighboring Hindu-India which led to the development of an Islamic identity in Pakistan. The country began mass Islamic education which set up the foundation for the exploitation of the religion to fight for foreign interest. The Pakistani intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), established and administered dozens of schools that were intended to radicalize and prepare students for battle against its enemies. The ISI did this with the financial support of the United States, with the intention of fighting off the Communist threat posed by the Russians. The US clearly did not know that they would be a major contributor to the "terrorism" that they would be fighting decades later. According to Bruce Riedel, a former CIA agent, during the 1980s and 1990s the Pakistani government built a complex nexus of terrorist connections in order to further the country’s security and strategic interest. These interests, at the time, fell in line with the American interests. So a lot of the funding came from huge military aid packages from the United States and also Saudi Arabia.
To give a little context to the involvement of Saudi Arabia, I must address the relationship developed in the 1970s between Saudi Arabia and the United States. Following the oil embargo of 1974, protecting US oil interests became an obsession. The United States began negotiations with the Saudi government, the alliance formed would be known as the United States- Saudi Arabian Joint Economic Commission (JECOR). The arrangement would be like none other in world history. The Saudi Arabian government would use the mass wealth from oil to pay US business (Bechtel, Haliburton etc..) to completely modernize Saudi Arabia. Also, Saudi Arabia guaranteed the US a constant flow of oil to protect the US from another embargo. In exchange for the contracts and oil, the US promised to protect Saudi Arabia and the royal Saud family's position in power. The two countries became interdependent.
Fast-forward to the 1980s. The Soviets occupied Afghanistan. The United States and Saudi Arabia began to fund a network of "terrorist" groups to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan which we know as the Mujahideen. This funding and creation included "terrorists" such as Osama bin Laden, the most hated man in the United States for a decade, and Hafiz Saeed, the leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and of course the Taliban. These men fought along side each other in Afghanistan as surrogates of the United States' interests. How ironic? The United States poured in $3.5 billion dollars to support this fight against the Russians, and to create militant groups in the region, especially in Pakistan. That figure is official, the true figure is probably much higher. While the United States poured funds in, Saudi Arabia became the center for terrorist education and training. This was all done with the insistence of the United States.
Now back to Pakistan. The United States encouraged and funded the ISI in training and supporting many militant groups within Pakistan. The CIA partnered with the ISI and provided weapons, funding, intelligence, and training to the Mujahideen that was fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. With US dollars, Osama bin Laden teamed with Abdullah Azzam, created the Services Bureau. The Services Bureau was set up to encourage and recruit Muslims that were eager to fight in Afghanistan. With this critical international support and Pakistan serving as a base and safe haven for the fighters, the Soviets were defeated.
The Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989 had some serious ramifications. First the two sides that had been used by the US and the Soviets to fight for their empire did not just simply stop fighting. All of these new groups had been created to fight and two million Afghanis had been displaced. The new population, that was comprised of the militant groups that were formed by the ISI and the CIA, and the displaced population bred violence and extremism. It left the area with what Bruce Riedel calls a “Kalashnikov culture” in an area that lacked governmental authority because the government had been supporting the behavior.
Second, the United States made a drastic change in its policies toward Pakistan now that the country was not so critical to US interests. The following summer, the United States put harsh economic sanctions on Pakistan for its nuclear power program. The nuclear program had already reached weapons capabilities and the US knew this while they were using Pakistan to help fight the Soviets. They also stripped all funding to Pakistan. The Pakistani government and population felt betrayed by the US. They felt that the United States had used and abandoned them, while ignoring the consequences of the war that they helped create. This left a very sour taste in the mouth of the Pakistani people, especially the military, towards the United States. The Pakistani army, population and militants which the US created held a very deep distrust of the United States. Pakistan felt that if they were ever to help US interests again, they would just be chewed up and spit out in the same manner. This problem that the US created is showing its face today.
The Obama administration started a proxy war in Pakistan because of their concealment of the knowledge of Osama bin Laden. Well look at that from Pakistan's point of view. Again, in a second war in Afghanistan, the US had used Pakistan as a base for operations. The US continued to funnel money into the country and seemed to have no problems with Pakistan's nuclear weapons. The US seemed to be a friend to the Pakistanis again. But Pakistan was hesitant due to the history of the relationship. Pakistan knew that the US had largely created the monster the were now fighting. Pakistan also did not have a choice but to help the US in the "war on terror". How can you expect, a country to trust us after mistreatment like that. Then, the US ignores the sovereign rights of Pakistan in a search for bin Laden. We are currently dropping more and more bombs on Pakistan. We have stripped all foreign aid again. We have done this not because of the concealment of information but because they are no longer needed by us in the same manner. In my opinion, I believe that the United States wants to set up military bases on the Pakistani-Iranian border so that the US can use Pakistan once again in a war to protect their interests. Look out for my blog on Iran, finishing up some research but I think it will be very insightful.
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