Don’t Blame Pakistan for ISIS – NY Times (Embassy’s Rebuttal to Carlotta Gall’s Article)
To the Editor:
Re “Pakistan’s Hand in the Rise of International Jihad,” by Carlotta Gall (news analysis, Sunday Review, Feb. 7)
The whole world, including American officials and military commanders, is praising Pakistan’s successful military operations in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. It is strange that Ms. Gall, instead of acknowledging Pakistan’s sincerity, is somehow blaming the country — itself the worst victim of terrorism — for the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan.
One has to fly really high on wings of imagination to link the escalating violence in Afghanistan with the presence of a few men hiding somewhere in Pakistan.
Her reference to reports that Pakistan is responsible for the rise of ISIS in the Middle East ignores the increasingly complex regional politics. Likewise, her suggestion that Pakistan was involved in moving 300 Pakistani jihadists to the core of the ISIS fight is far-fetched.
Putting blame on Pakistan for every ill of the world may rather be construed as yet another attempt to undermine the fledgling reconciliation process in Afghanistan, where Pakistan, together with China and the United States, is trying its best to bring peace to the region.
NADEEM HOTIANA
Press Attaché, Embassy of Pakistan
February 11, 2016
Washington D.C
