As expected, with the start of the negotiation phase of the Af-Pak campaign, the US is now all set to change her agent in Pakistan. The writing is on the wall and the PPP-led government can see it loud and clear. The army vs government tussle is ever increasing. The clash on ‘Memogate' scandal has become way too obvious. The scandal started from a "memo" which was conveyed to Admiral Mullen through back-channels and was purportedly conceived and initiated by President Asif Ali Zardari. In the memo, the Zardari government requested America to stop a possible coup in Pakistan, after Osama Bin Laden's "assassination," in exchange for ‘huge concessions' in the War on Terror, the nuclear issue and normalization with India, amongst others.

This is not for the first time that America has changed its old trusted agent with a new one. Whenever she deems that the agent has outlived their usefulness or the public opinion has become hostile to a point that there is a danger of real change, she brings a face-change to stop a system level, radical change. In 1999, Pakistanis witnessed a US stooge, Nawaz Sharif, being replaced by a military stooge, Musharraf. During 2008-2009, the US first forced Musharraf to accept a power-sharing deal with Benazir Bhutto and then finally replaced him with a democratic, corrupt ruler, Asif Ali Zardari. Similarly now, when Zardari has reached his expiry date and the operational phase in Af-Pak strategy is that of negotiations, and not war, the US wants to get rid of Zardari and bring a new agent who is more suitable for negotiations. To achieve this, the US is again banking on its agents in the armed forces. Kayani and Pasha are spearheading this campaign. Currently "memogate" scandal and NRO cases are being used to exert pressure on the Zardari regime. The so-called independent judiciary, which has also been exposed as a veritable arm of the Army is the ace-card for achieving US objectives. This "hostile" role also suits Kayani, as he can pose as someone who is working against the US interests by flogging a dead horse - Zardari. This helps Kayani build himself within the rank and file, who hate him for his connivance with the US in the Abottabad raid, as well as the Salalah NATO attack, which left more than 28 Pakistani soldiers dead and many wounded. It also helps Kayani portray himself as an independent and anti-US General who could wow TTP and Afghan Taliban on the negotiating table, so that the political process could provide permanence to US military gains in Afghanistan and FATA. George Friedman in his article on "Stratfor" alludes to this very point. He says: "The Pakistanis are preparing for the American drawdown. Publicly, it is important for them to appear as independent and even hostile to the Americans as possible in order to maintain their domestic credibility. Up to now, they have appeared to various factions in Pakistan as American lackeys... U.S. accusations that the government has not cooperated with the United States in fighting Islamists are exactly what the Pakistani establishment needs in order to move to the next phase."

A stable Afghanistan and FATA, with US bases in Afghanistan and Pakistan's military check-points in FATA, will allow US companies to build lucrative pipelines for the free flow of hydrocarbons through Gwadar to the rest of the world. Hence, Musharraf and Kayani killed and maimed thousands of Muslims and displaced millions just for the interests of America. After the final military operation in Kurram, the ‘witch-hunt' of Tehreek Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has come to an end, since the Army has built check points all across FATA, which previously was a no-go area. US has started the negotiation phase, which needs political backing from the US agents in the political leadership of Pakistan. Zardari cannot drive this US objective. The US needs another face who has always called for negotiations and is seen by the tribal Muslims as a credible leader.

This is why it doesn't come as a surprise that even Vice President Joe Biden doesn't consider Taliban to be an enemy!

For the new phase of negotiation, GHQ and the ISI are engineering another ‘King's Party' (the new ‘Q League' as they call it here in Pakistan) under the leadership of an ex-captain of the Pakistani Cricket team, Imran Khan. All the corrupt faces are back in Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) after being "baptized" and approved by the ISI. This is why the appeal for Imran Khan and his party has declined sharply amongst the educated middle class citizens who were hoping to see a change, under the leadership of a "clean politician." The criticism became so sharp that Imran Khan had to concede that he could not build a team of angels from a country neck-deep in corruption. This is what Hizb ut-Tahrir has been advocating for decades, you can never bring change through the corrupt system. In a democratic process, one has to depend on the same corrupt politicians to come to power and these politicians make sure that no law is enacted in the parliament, which challenges the status quo. This is why, as an example, in Pakistan no law is enacted to impose taxes on agricultural sector, as most of the landlords are part of the parliament.

The real change can only occur by following the methodology of RasulAllah (saw), which requires us to build public opinion for the implementation of Islam and mandates the seeking of support from the people-of-power to uproot the current kufr system and establish the Khilafah "Caliphate". The notion that clean people within the corrupt system will bring change, is a complete farce. It is even more unlikely when the corrupt have already infiltrated to the highest echelons of the party and championed the slogan of "Change"!

Naveed Butt
The Official Spokesman of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Pakistan