Obama's AFPAK policy and the Muslim Umma

Bangalore, India, December 10 — President Obama recently delivered the most important war speech of his presidency. But will the surge of 30,000 American troops make any difference to the Afghanistan-Pakistan theater? If numbers alone are the matter, then Obama would have provided 100,000 troops or even more, whether Gen. McChrystal wanted it or not. Then, what is the goal of the war? The war is NOT going to be fought on the battlefields of Helmand, Kandahar, Kunduz or Tora Bora. The battlefield is the hearts and minds of Americans on "Main Street" in the U.S.

Yes, that is the battlefield. That is why the deadline is July 2011, to create a spillover until the 2012 American election. Obama's speech put the onus of winning this war for America on the Pakistan Army. The less body bags, and you will get your crowns, which may include Mullah Omar in Kabul in place of Karzai! Zardari and Karzai have already been expended.

The take is on Gen. Kiyani and the general headquarters of the Pakistan Army. But the general himself made one very significant statement as Obama was talking in front of West Point cadets, telling the Frontier Constabulary, "Pakistan was achieved in the name of Islam and the Muslim Umma and the religion can never be expelled from the country." Why did he make this statement when Pakistan and Afghanistan are both Islamic republics? Therein lies the concept of the Muslim Umma, the "Community of the Believers", which Americans rarely understand or care to understand. It is the Muslim Umma which is protecting Osama, in spite of the nearly $1 billion price tag on his head, and Sheikh Omar, the killer of Daniel Pearl, and Dr. A.Q. Khan from being extradited to the U.S., and which allowed Ilyas Kashmiri and Rauf to escape. This is what made Gen. Musharaf, Zardari and Altaf Hussein flee Pakistan, while Gen. Hamid Gul of the ISI and A.Q. Khan have no fear to live in Pakistan. It is this Muslim Umma that killed Benazir Bhutto and also ordered the killing of both Begums in Bangladesh, and which continues to order the selective killing of ANP leadership, along with some brigadier generals who might take over as Army chiefs, in Pakistan. Islamic bombs will never be in the hands of any Pakistani Army man who is close to the U.S. and does not understand the Muslim Umma.

Obama promised "a partnership with Pakistan that is built on mutual interest, mutual respect and mutual trust." He also highlighted the fact that the United States is the largest donor for those internally displaced persons in SWAT and South Waziristan. Nobody in the world, including the Pakistani army, believes in Obama's take on democracy, after he ditched Nobel laureates Aung San Suu Chi of Myanmar and the Dalai Lama of Tibet. They know that they are able to affect the 2012 election in America. Already, the number of American body bags in November is less than October, although the year's count is the most of any during the past eight years. During Bush's reelection, the Osama tape manufactured by the ISI was a big help for him in his reelection. Also, the Haqqani group, Gulbudin Heketmayers Hizb-e-Islami and Quetta Shura are all watching how Gen. Kiyani will play out the demand to betray the Muslim Umma. Gen. Musharaf did not betray them and I do not think Gen. Kiyani will either.

Coming to the Afghanistan war theater, Karzai is forced to keep CIA/ISI asset Mohammad Gulab Mangal, whom Karzai's brothers do not trust, as the governor of Helmand. The cosmetic deployment of extra troops will take at least one year, with logistics being a nightmare. NATO convoys will be targeted by Tehreek Taliban, while the Quetta Shura will take its orders from the Pakistan Army. Gen. Gul is already gloating and telling his Afghan Taliban followers to be patient until Americans head home with a fig leaf provided by the ISI, and then they can take over. Gen. Gul is already promoting Imran Khan as the acceptable civilian face for the Pakistan Army and for Maleeha Lodhi to take the place of Haqqani in the Pakistani embassy in Washington.

Central to Muhamed Ibn al Wahab's message was the essential oneness of Tawhid (God). Wahhabis follow Ahl At Tawhid or Muwahhidun (Unitarians). Wahab's instructions in extending Islamic teachings by force were strict. All unbelievers (Christians, Hindus, Jews, and those who did not accept Wahab's interpretation of Islam) were to be put to death. He viewed as objectionable votive offerings, praying at saints' tombs and graves, and any prayer ritual in which a suppliant appeals to a third party for intercession with Tawhid. Even celebrations of the prophet's birthday, Shia mourning ceremonies, and the Sufi mysticism of Indian Muslims are abhorrent to followers.

Whether the Pakistani Army-supported Taliban fighting U.S. forces in Afghanistan or the Tehreek Taliban fighting the army inside Pakistan or NATO convoys to Afghanistan, policymakers of the world should watch with interest to see if they will inherit the concept of the Muslim Umma.