Matt Thundyil 

A terrorist state has been defined as one "that offers shelter and sustenance to terrorists". Examples of states characterized as ‘terrorist states’ include Iran, Iraq, Libya, and North Korea.  In most cases, the state in question has been directly linked to acts of terror.  In the wake of the attacks of 9-11 came the recognition that states that sheltered and sustained numerous groups that utilized terror were themselves terrorist states.  This is what led to the attacks on Afghanistan.  However, geopolitics has led to the media overlooking another terrorist state.  One of the states that is apparently a “frontline ally” in this war against terrorism is Pakistan.   The facts indicate that Pakistan is itself a terrorist state that needs to be brought in line with acceptable norms of behavior.

In the context of the attacks on the US, Pakistan's record is extensive.  The mastermind of the first attack on the WTC was Ramzi Yousef, a Pakistani national with links to the Pakistani government.  The attacks on the US embassies in Africa were masterminded  by terrorists based from Pakistan.  The finances used by Mohammad Atta (the ring-leader of the hijackers that attacked the WTC-Pentagon) were wired by terrorists with links to Pakistan’s Inter Service Intelligence – an agency with deep links to the Taliban and Al Qaeda.  All the 19 terrorists, as well as Zacarias Moussaoui (the suspected 20^th hijacker) and Richard Reid (the shoe-bomber) are known to have spent time training in Pakistan in institutions funded by the Pakistani intelligence.

In addition to this are the extensive links between the Al Qaeda/Taliban and Pakistan.  The Taliban forces that occupied and controlled Afghanistan were supported militarily, politically and logistically by Pakistan.  The links between the Taliban and the Pakistani government were so extensive that all Taliban Ministries could only be reached through Pakistani area codes.  It was in recognition of the linkage between the Al Qaeda and the Taliban, and in turn between the Taliban and Pakistan that Richard Armitage threatened the Pakistanis with cooperating with us or being “bombed back to the Stone Age.”  It was only in the face of this threat that Pakistan grudgingly agreed to permit US-over flights. 

And then, in order to thwart US military operations, an attack on a State Legislature in India was authorized and conducted by Pakistani directed terrorists.  Jaish-e-Mohammad, one of the 12 groups that comprise the Islamic Front led by Al Qaeda, claimed credit for the attack.  Jaish-e-Mohammad continued to raise funds and train its men in Pakistani controlled territory.  After this gambit failed, Pakistan continued to sustain the Taliban and Al Qaeda with military, financial, logistic and fuel in the midst of the US strikes into Afghanistan.  As the pressure grew, Musharraf attempted to get them breathing space by demanding a break for Ramadan.   Pakistani officers continued to be directly involved in the fighting in Afghanistan, and were airlifted out of Kunduz as that city fell.  Most of the "foreign fighters" that were responsible for the prison uprising in Mazar-e-Sharif that killed US personnel were Pakistani.  Following the fall of the Taliban, in order to forestall the capture of Osama Bin Laden and the upper echelon of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, Pakistan ordered the attack on India's Parliament.  This was designed as a classic diversionary attack intended to take American focus away from the terrorists to the threat of nuclear-war on the Indian subcontinent.  Even after this, thousands of Al Qaeda and Taliban agents are known to have slipped into Pakistan for safe haven. 

In addition to the support for the WTC attackers, the embassy attackers, the Taliban and Al Qaeda are the Pakistani government’s support of other terrorist groups.  Al Qaeda is but one of 12 groups that make up the Islamic Front that has issued a jihad on the United States.   In addition to Al Qaeda are Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Tayyba, and Harkat-ul-Mujaheddin.  These three groups are classified as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the US State Department.  All four, including Al Qaeda are known to raise funds openly, train openly and receive military and logistic support from the Pakistani government agencies.  This support continues to this day.  Interestingly enough the website that Lashkar-e-Tayyba uses for fundraising and propaganda is located on a Pakistani Army server.  Finally, numerous Pakistani scientists are under suspicion of having transferred nuclear technology to Al Qaeda and other terrorist outfits.

Compared to other terrorist states (such as Iraq and Libya) where the sponsorship of terrorism is embodied in the leadership, Pakistan represents the institutionalized sponsorship of terrorism.  In other words, while Iraq and Libya are dangerous terrorist states, the elimination of Saddam Hussein or Col. Gaddafi may be enough to return them to the comity of nations.   However, Pakistan has used terrorism as an instrument of state policy through the tenure of General Zia ul-Haq, Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif and now General Musharraf. What this means is that state sponsorship of terrorism in Pakistan is institutional in nature rather than embodied in the leadership.  The most obvious analogy is to the Soviet Union where the antipathy to freedom outlasted numerous leaders.

Like the Soviet Union in 1941, Pakistan is an “ally” in the fight against what is perceived to be a greater evil.  In reality, like the Soviet Union then, Pakistan is part of evil that it purports to be fighting.  Like the Soviet Union, in 1945, the Pakistani threat is still extant.  And it needs to be dismantled.  The major world powers that are likely to be affected by Pakistan and its terrorist acts are likely to be the United States, India, Israel, Russia, and China. In fact, it has had a direct effect on terrorist acts committed in across the globe from the United States to India in just the last 3 months.  These five states must act now, to prevent the problem metastasizing.