News Release

May 8, 2002

Pakistan Is an Unreliable Ally in War on Terror, Study Says
U.S. should avoid strategic partnership with country that propped up Taliban regime

WASHINGTON--As the United States expands its anti-terrorist operations into Pakistan, a new study from the Cato Institute argues that Pakistan is an unreliable ally that is likely to turn on America in the long run.

In "Pakistan in America's War against Terrorism: Strategic Ally or Unreliable Client?" Cato Research Fellow Leon Hadar traces the history of U.S. involvement in Pakistan and argues that the United States has much to lose from a long-term partnership.

In the months before the Sept. 11 attacks, Pakistan was the most important diplomatic and political ally of the Taliban regime that harbored the al-Qaeda terrorists, Hadar points out. "[Pervez] Musharraf, as head of Pakistan's military, used his alliance with radical Muslim clerics to provide legitimacy to his dictatorship, forming a powerful and destructive 'military-mosque' nexus. With Musharraf as its head, that political nexus helped transform Pakistan into a magnet for radical Islamic terrorists in the region and around the world."

After the events of Sept. 11, Pakistan realized that it was in the country's short-term interest to cooperate with the United States, Hadar says. First, Musharraf hoped to prevent the removal of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, instead replacing it with "moderate" Taliban who would remain friendly to Pakistan. Second, he hoped to internationalize the dispute over Kashmir, bringing in the United States to pressure India not to respond to Pakistani acts of provocation.

But despite pledges of cooperation, Pakistan's intelligence service continued to provide military and financial assistance to the Taliban in Afghanistan, Hadar says. "Islamabad still regarded Afghanistan as a strategic ally and ideological associate. Afghan training camps and Afghan recruits helped to prepare the next Pakistani-instigated insurgency against the Indians in Kashmir and to spread radical Islamic ideas and institutions around the world through 'jihad-international' brigades, some of which were tied to the al-Qaeda network."

Some cooperation between the United States and Pakistan is necessary to wage the war against terrorism, Hadar says, but that cooperation must not evolve into a new long-term strategic alliance. "Washington should view Pakistan, with its dictatorship, failed economy, and insecure nuclear arsenal, as a reluctant supporter of U.S. goals at best and as a potential long-term problem at worst."

"Pakistan in America's War against Terrorism: Strategic Ally or Unreliable Client?"