Great Game 2.0

It seems that as the Obama administration's war policy matures, Southwest Asia is being turned inside out in the name of America's Overseas Contingency Operation (the official "new" term for the Global War on Terror).

My favorite frontline reporter, Syed Saleem Shahzad, has a new article out, "Pakistan-U.S. plan falls into place."  The article is worth reading multiple times, and perhaps printing out and saving, as it lays out the framework for what will be, in Shahzed's words "a struggle of unprecedented proportions."

  On one side of the struggle are the military politicians of the imperial states.  Shahzad writes "The seamless friendship between the chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, and Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kiani, has cemented the relationship between the military establishments of the two countries to levels not seen since the 1950s."  According to Shahzad, the "cemented relationship" will proceed along two path.

First, "Pakistan will launch a comprehensive battle against all Taliban groups in the country, irrespective of whether they are perceived as good or bad."  Second, "an initiative will be made by the Pakistani government, supported by the country's Western allies, for better relations with India, strongly mediated by the Pakistan army."

In order to understand this alliance, it must be understood that the U.S. is thoroughly engaged in a Great Game, meaning that the military is only a facade for underlying economic concerns.  

In Pakistan, the American's have been setting up quite a "civilian" task-force in Islamabad.  They currently have more than 500 advisors in the capital city, and earlier this year the White House asked Congress for $736 Million to build a new super-embassy in the capital city. (To put that price tag in perspective, when the U.S. built the world's largest embassy in Baghdad's Green Zone, it cost $740 million.)  And what have these "civilians" been advising the Pakistani government to do?  According to Shahzad, they have told the Pakistani Army to declare war westward, rather than eastward.  My asumption right now is that the U.S. is hoping to benefit itself, and not India, from a shift in Pakistani belligerence.  It was rumored that when Richard Holbrooke was put it charge of diplomacy for the region, his original title included Kashmir, but it was removed at India's request.

Across the Durand Line, in Afghanistan, all signs are pointing to a continuation of the neoliberal occupation of the state.   Zalmay Khalizad as CEO?  James Carville as campaign strategist?  Chances are that Afghanistan is still a pipeline war, or a surround Iran war, and Zbig has no plans to give up on his policy.  The recent American military operation, Operation Daggerthrust, sprawled 5,000 marines out over Helmand Province, where a new 443 acre military base, Camp Leatherneck, is being built (near both the Iran and Pakistan border).  The operational is out of style for General Stan McChrystal, who specializes in small Special Forces operations.  There has been, however, talk of Special Forces raids from Helmand province into Pakistani Baluchistan, which according to Pepe Escobar, is the greatest prize in Great Game 2.0.  Watch for the ultra-remote Nimruz province of Afghanistan to start cropping up in the news, as it will be the staging ground for any cross border operation.   

  As it stands, Pakistan lives off of an IMF lifeline, a fact that the military leaders of both America and Pakistan are fully aware of.  Therefore, if the U.S. military needs an allied army to join the fight for empire, Pakistan has no choice but to agree.  Washington has all the cards, and it seems that Richard Armitage's September 11th "with us or against us" ultimatum is still being adhered to.  All that is left to be seen is how hard the other side of the struggle, the Southwest Asian militants, will fight.  For that, read Shahzad's article.