Thursday, March 18, 2010

Conspiracy Galore!

The continuing violence in Pakistan has been thought through and debated on media and elsewhere vigorously. The different protagonists explain these events as follows:

(1) driven by the criminal elements;

(2) Pakistan Taliban on an ideological war path with Pakistani government who it sees as a US proxy;

(3) Al Qaeeda who wants to destabilise Pakistan, for reasons including getting hold a Nuclear bomb or two and also to fight an American ally;

(4) Afghan Taliban who are destabilising Pakistan and the region as a proxy war with the USA;

(5) Pakistani establishment to destabilise Civilian government or to give message that that they are very serious about war on terror and paying a high price;

(6) Pakistani establishment in order gain public sympathy and foreign money etc by creating a genuine threat;

(7) American backed militants who are planing to weaken Pakistan as pretext to dismembering or to secure the Nukes;

(8) Foreign interests who want to instigate flight of capital to their countries from a destabilised South Asia;

(9) Indians via Afghanistan to keep Pakistan off balance and economically backward;

(10) Chinese, Iranians, Russians and other regional powers in order to not let Americans have a stabilised Afghanistan or Pakistan and to make them leave the region;

(11) US enemies, who want to do Vietnam to USA all over again;

(12) Corporate interests of Defence Industries in order to continue to justify the funding for weapons etc;

(13) European Countries to keep USA bogged down in the region and to make it bleed economically and hence end its dominance;

(14) Oppositions Parties in Pakistan to force the ouster of the government;

(15) Other private and business interests, trying to keep the government off balance;

(16) Al Qaeeda seeking to instill the failure of centrists in the minds of the masses and hence portraying itself as the only feasible option for governance.

I am sure there are other potential theories. I am also sure if we think through each one of the above, we can come close to the true picture!