Columnist Nicholas Kristof: Pakistan tries to control its own terrorists

Nicholas Kristof

Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2001 | 8:43 a.m.

Nicholas Kristof is a New York Times columnist.

JUST TO PUNCTURE our hypocrisy for a moment: We've been battling terrorism by bolstering backers of terrorism in Pakistan.

Pakistan, our new ally in the war on terrorism, has a long history of supporting indiscriminate attacks in India and, especially, the disputed territory of Kashmir. The latest, headline-grabbing attack was the assault on the Parliament building in New Delhi that now threatens war between two nuclear powers, but many thousands of civilians have been killed over the years by Pakistani-financed terrorist organizations.

All in all, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency, or ISI, is responsible for many more killings than Osama bin Laden.

But however hypocritical it may be to bolster one government that harbors terrorists while overthrowing another, there is no good alternative. The Bush administration is exactly right to be simultaneously supporting Gen. Pervez Musharraf and twisting his arm to fight terrorism, for he may be Pakistan's last hope to rescue his country.

Pakistan today is not only a catastrophe for Pakistanis but a threat to the entire region. Its economy is quasi-feudal, some 55 percent of adults are illiterate and more than 10 percent of children die by the age of 5. Pakistan now has more drug addicts than college graduates.

In the last 20 years public schooling has been partly replaced by madrasas that preach extremism, the pursuit of nuclear weapons has isolated the government, and foolish policies have crippled the economy. The ISI's installation of the Taliban in Afghanistan has backfired, and now there is a risk of the "Talibanization" of Pakistan, as religious extremists return from their "crusades" in Afghanistan and Pashtuns perhaps revive their quest for an independent "Pashtunistan."

In Pakistan earlier this month, I flinched whenever I read the newspapers. Guerrillas in Kashmir were "freedom-fighters" if they lived, "martyrs" if they died. And on The Nation's editorial page appeared this rant: "The Christian world has not accepted us (Muslims) as human beings even. These nations are determined to exterminate the Muslims."

Musharraf is in charge of this morass, and -- under strong pressure from President Bush, and less visible nudging from China -- he has acted decisively to pull his country toward reality. He ousted the head of the ISI, permitted the entry of U.S. troops to oust the Taliban, and sent troops for the first time into tribal areas to capture Taliban escapees. He has moved to sideline the religious fanatics, close the extremist madrasas and deport foreign religious students. Next he must clamp down on the Kashmiri fighters.

Over the last two years Musharraf has shown himself capable of brutally tough decisions, and there is some reason to think that he can regain control of the ISI (which may have run the latest Indian attack as a rogue operation), cut off state support for Kashmiri terrorists, nurture a growing market economy -- and prepare for democratic elections. The religious parties get less than 5 percent of the vote in Pakistan, and so democracy can delegitimize extremism as well.

Pakistan is at a moment of maximum danger, threatened by the instability caused by returning Taliban fighters on the west and by the risk of war with India on the east. Similarly, it was at a time when India was near economic collapse, in the summer of 1991, that New Delhi moved decisively toward a path of economic reform -- and toward more sensible domestic and international policies across the board.

Pakistan, after so many wrong turns in its history, has tentatively taken a right one in the last few months. Now it must build on that by clamping down on its own terrorists. And, whatever the stench of blood in Islamabad, we Americans must hold our noses and do all we can to help Musharraf hold his course.