Steven Emerson: Pakistan Is Ally and "Anti-Ally" Against Terrorists

By Andrew Cochran

Steven Emerson appeared this morning on NBC's "Today" Show to discuss President Bush's visit to Pakistan and the extent of that country's cooperation with the U.S. against terrorism, or lack thereof, depending on the issue. You can see the video of the appearance from The Investigative Project website (Windows Media file). Here are selected segments from the unofficial transcript by the IPT (to which I added some links):

COURIC: I know that he is meeting with President Musharraf tomorrow. What does he need to do because it is, as we have said already this morning, a delicate balance? Pakistan really is a mixed bag when it comes to helping the U.S. with this War against Terror.

EMERSON: Well, it is both an ally and it's an "anti-ally," so to speak. It has been helpful. It's also been detrimental.

COURIC: Let's talk about the way it has been helpful, first.

EMERSON: Well, first of all, we know that Musharraf has helped crack down on Al Qaeda to a certain extent. He has allowed the arrest of Ramzi Bin al-Shib, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and other Al Qaeda terrorists, particularly those in the leadership of the 9/11 plot. He also has been helpful in terms of trying to stem some of the financing coming from the hawalas in Pakistan. So, that is in the plus side. On the minus side, I would say that he has not been able to shut down some of the Lashkar-e-Taiba camps, the other Kashmiri oriented liberation groups, some of the Al Qaeda organizational movements operating on the border with Afghanistan, and he has refused to allow American troops independent access there, which is really critical if we are going to find Bin Laden and arrest him or kill him.

COURIC: Because he is thought to be in the Afghan-Pakistan border area at his point in time, right, Steve?

EMERSON: He is thought to be in the Waziristan area, which really straddles the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. But, it's a very tough terrain and he has not allowed U.S. ground troops access there, which is really critical for independent collection of intelligence.

COURIC: So, what can the President do and will his trip be viewed as a success if he can convince Musharraf to become a bigger ally? In other words, what steps need to be achieved, Steve, in your view?

EMERSON: Well, for Musharraf, he needs to have something delivered from the President. He needs to show that he is not caving in to the President. They are sort of at odds here, to a certain extent.

COURIC: Well, it's very tough in a lot of these Arab countries, isn't it, because they have to stand firm on some issues and yet be accommodating as well, depending on the Arab country, of course?

EMERSON: That is absolutely true. It's walking a line. Remember, Musharraf is a bit of a dictator, but as they say, "he is our dictator" and he has been much more supportive of our issues than a totalitarian who would be elected or supported on the other side.

COURIC: What about the issue of elections? Will President Bush raise those?

EMERSON: I think he is going to, but very gingerly, because he does not want to destabilize or put Musharraf in any embarrassing position. Musharraf has committed himself to democracy, but really hasn't taken any steps to advance it.

COURIC: What do you think over all? Do you think the President is smart in making this foreign trip to these very, very critically important countries at this time, because it seems that a lot of foreign policy is in shambles at this point in time, if you look at Iraq and what happened with Hamas, etcetera?

EMERSON: I think the President gets a certain amount of credibility for willing to inject himself on the ground and actually going to these countries and actually engaging the people and the President. I don't think he wants to be seen as somebody who is cowering in the Rose Garden. So, I think there is a certain healthiness to the foreign policy aspects of that and his ability to engage Musharraf personally, because I think he will get more out of Musharraf, personally, in Pakistan then he would in Washington.

COURIC: Do you think his desire to establish democracies through much of the Mid East is still a valid one, a doable one?

EMERSON: I think that the end result of some of the most recent consequences of that have not been so good. So I don't think the push will be as great, given what has happened in the Palestinian territories with the election of Hamas, and the elections of the Muslim Brotherhood or their gains in Egypt. I don't think we are going to be pushing that without the creation of what is really critical; civil society first, then elections.

TrackBack