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Pakistan may taste US 'tough love'

Aziz Haniffa
India Abroad Correspondent in Washington

The Bush administration's presumptive envoy to Pakistan, Wendy J Chamberlin, has assured Congress that if confirmed by the Senate, she will mete out some "tough love" to Islamabad on issues ranging from nuclear proliferation to human rights, a return to democracy and refugee issues.

Appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for her confirmation hearing on Tuesday, she told Sen Paul Wellstone, Minnesota Republican, who chairs the panel's subcommittee on South Asia, that she had taken note of "your very strong words" regarding the "very troubling developments of last week", when Pakistan's military leader, General Pervez Musharraf, declared himself president and also the decree regarding distribution of refugees fleeing Afghanistan.

"I can assure you that I take to heart your remarks," Chamberlin said. "I agree with them and [it] would be my intention, if confirmed by the Senate, to work very closely with you to see that these become in fact instructions to the new ambassador to Pakistan."

Wellstone had in his opening remarks slammed Pakistan, saying, "A long-time friend, Pakistan, may now be in need of some 'tough love'."

"The next ambassador to Pakistan will have to convey a strong message about America's commitment not only to nuclear non-proliferation, but also to democratic values, human rights and opposition to Taleban-inspired militancy," he said.

Wellstone added, "The decision by Gen [Pervez] Musharraf to anoint himself president last week, apparently without the knowledge of his own foreign minister [Abdul Sattar, who was visiting Washington at the time] is surely a troubling development."

"Far more troubling, however," Wellstone continued, was Pakistan's handling of the Afghan refugees fleeing "not only drought, but also the cruelty of the Taleban regime that Pakistan itself helps to maintain in power".

Pakistan was also taken to task for human rights violations, particularly the growing incidence of "honour killings" of women by husbands who suspect them of infidelity. Both Wellstone and Sen Sam Brownback, Kansas Republican, extracted an assurance from Chamberlin that if confirmed as the US ambassador, she will strongly address this issue with Islamabad.

Chamberlin said it was imperative on human rights issues such as these to go "beyond just dialogue" and engage in "observing and monitoring".

"We've got to find creative ways of engaging the Pakistanis through programmes, which will actually address some of the problems, because we can't afford to be ineffective in this area," she said.

In her prepared testimony, Chamberlin said, "The United States and Pakistan enjoyed friendly relations for most of Pakistan's 54-year history. Yet our relationship to a large extent revolved around issues focused on third countries, such as the Soviet Union and Afghanistan."

"It is time to define a relationship with Pakistan on its own merits," she emphasised.

Chamberlin, who was part of the US delegation that visited Pakistan in the early 1980s to discuss a massive military assistance package to Islamabad, which was being coveted at the time as a bulwark against perceived Soviet expansionism, particularly after Moscow invaded and occupied Afghanistan, reminisced that "on a field trip to the spectacularly inspiring Khyber Pass, I admit to day-dreaming of the day I could return to serve in such a fascinating country".

"I never dreamed that it might be in the capacity of ambassador," she remarked. "Nor that it would be during a period of such daunting problems and intriguing opportunities."

Chamberlin continued, "Pakistan is an important country in a dangerous neighbourhood. It is a nuclear-capable country of 140 million people. The United States has a strong interest in a stable, democratic and prosperous Pakistan that is at peace with its neighbours."

But even as Chamberlin was testifying before Congress, the Hmong and Laotian-American veterans began a campaign against her nomination, saying that while she was envoy to Laos, she had been cozying up to the military junta there.

Philip Smith, Washington director for the Lao Veterans of America, the nation's largest Hmong and Lao veterans organization, said, "The freedom-loving people in Pakistan, Afghanistan and South Asia need to be informed and aware that Wendy Chamberlin has a deplorable track record of utter and total appeasement as documented by Hmong and Laotian-Americans."

He said, "She has never met a military general or dictatorship that she did not like, and vigorously assist, in oppressing its people."

Smith said that "given the perilous strategic nuclear weapons dimension to Pakistan-Indian relations now as well as serious flashpoint issues such as Afghanistan and Kashmir, the United States and the people of South Asia need a US ambassador to Pakistan with a proven track record of firmness, competence and a sound relationship with members of the US House of Representatives".

"Wendy Chamberlin," he said, "simply does not measure up and endangers the future of South Asia and its freedom-loving people. Wendy Chamberlin obviously failed utterly in Laos, a tiny, impoverished nation in Southeast Asia where few American and international interests are at stake and where she repeatedly appeased and kissed the boots of the military generals on a broad range of issues -- from gross human rights violations to the disappearance of Hmong Americans to counternarcotics."

In October 1999, several US lawmakers signed on to a House resolution "condemning the communist regime in Laos for its many human rights abuses, including its role in the abduction of United States citizens Houa Ly and Michael Vang".

The resolution expressed to the US state department "congressional dissatisfaction with the flawed investigation of this case undertaken by Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin and the US embassy in Laos".

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