- Miscalculation can lead to disaster
The inevitable has happened. Soon after the burial of Gen Qassem Soleimani, over 80 US forces died in missile attacks on two US military bases in Iraq, Iranian media claimed. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has meanwhile announced that it would not differentiate between the USA and Israel while retaliating against the assassination of the Iranian national hero. Further that any land that becomes the source of aggressive measures against the Islamic Republic was going to be targeted. An adviser to the Iranian President has said that any adverse military reaction by the USA will be met with an all-out war across the region. However, Saudi Arabia could have total peace by taking a different path, he maintained.
The USA has opened a Pandora’s Box by resorting to state terrorism. It needs to be reminded that it would be putting the Gulf aflame in case of another misadventure. It may not be easy for a blustering President to be seen blinking first in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation, but since he has created the problem he has to resolve it himself even if he has to eat humble pie.
By assassinating a man who played a crucial role in the near-elimination of the so-called Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East, the clueless US President Donald Trump has provided the terrorist group an opportunity to revive itself. The USA has thus jeopardized the security not only of the Middle East but also of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Any further escalation in the Middle East will provide militant groups like the IS a new lease of life.
The rising confrontation in the region has a direct bearing on Pakistan. There is however little clarity in our policy vis-à-vis the role of various players. By failing to hold the USA responsible for its act of state terrorism and instead urging both sides to practice restraint amounts to treating the aggressor and the victim equally. While speaking to the Senate, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had displayed insensitivity by bracketing together General Soleimani, who is a well-loved icon in Iran, with terrorists like Al-Qaeda Chief Osama bin Laden and IS Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, only to observe that the repercussions in the case of General Soleimani’s assassination would be greater.
