World

Trump’s controlled chaos – World

HOW little it takes to please or render two insecure, nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours was evident this week when, in his State of the Union address, US President Donald Trump thanked the government of Pakistan for helping in the arrest and extradition of a man wanted for his role in the Kabul airport ‘Abbey Gate’ bombing.

The suicide bombing in August 2021, during the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan just days after the capital fell to the Taliban, killed some 170 hapless Afghans trying to flee their strife-torn country, but was more ominous with regard to the killing of 13 US military personnel.

Ominous, because we all know that our lives — I mean Afghans, Pakistanis, Iraqis, Sudanese, Palestinians (you can add dozens of others to the list) — count for very little and thousands of us can be violently killed without consequences, but the world responds in a totally different manner when ‘worthier’ lives are taken.

The reason for our plight may well be found in our own attitudes. Just look at the reaction to Donald Trump thanking Pakistan. The Pakistani prime minister tweeted a long message of gratitude to POTUS. One PTI-affiliated handle claimed that the prime minister first tagged Trump but updated his tweet to drop the tag after being criticised.

Pakistan’s dependence on the US and the financial institutions it holds sway over, such as the IMF and World Bank, is not a secret. But India sees itself as a close ally of the US and central to its China-centric policy and a country that is powerful enough to deal with all nations on an even keel.

Predictably, Pakistan was pleased, relieved, and felt loved by Trump’s message.

Admittedly, India’s reaction was not articulated officially. It came in the form of a news report, quoting ‘government (read: security) sources’ which tried to water down the importance of the Abbey Gate bombing suspect’s capture because he was supposed to have played a lesser role in the mayhem. Some of this report’s contents were challenged by a keen chronicler of terrorism in the region.

A Pakistani TV channel and a former CIA official also cast doubts on the significance of this man’s arrest. On the other hand, a Pakistan-based website detailed his role in the bombing, calling him the ISK Abbey Gate bombing mastermind who is said to have planned the attack with the eventual suicide bomber while still in prison. The Taliban freed them when they captured Kabul in 2021.

In an affidavit filed in the Alexandria Court in Virginia, where Sharifullah appeared this week to face charges, the FBI agent who interrogated him spells out exactly the role the suspect was said to have played in scouting the site to be bombed, among other things.

Whatever the exact nature of the suspect’s role and the debate over how significant it was, President Trump claimed it as a big win and thanked the government of Pakistan for helping in the capture of this ‘monster’. Predictably, Pakistan was pleased, relieved, and felt loved by Trump’s message. This seems to have upset India.

Generally, Trump thrives on creating (controlled?) chaos and succeeds in staying ahead of the news cycle. This week, where so much seems to have been squeezed into a mere seven days, was another example of the Trump policy.

When the news of America’s direct talks with Hamas in Egypt broke, and before questions could be asked about the change in policy whereby the US says it ‘does not negotiate with terrorists’, Trump let loose with his threat to Hamas to release all hostages or there would be “hell to pay”. This threat dominated headlines and not the US-Hamas talks.

When the Arab plan for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Gaza was announced, Israel rejected it outright; the White House National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes may not have used the same words as Israel, but said the only plan workable was the Trump plan for Gaza.

Two days later, Trump’s point man on the Middle East and fellow property tycoon Steve Witkoff, who is credited with twisting Benjamin Netanyahu’s arm for the Gaza ceasefire days before the Trump inauguration, surprised journalists during a White House Press gaggle on Egypt’s plan approved by Arab leaders.

“There are a lot of compelling features to it. … We need more discussion about it, but it’s a good faith, first step from the Egyptians,” he said, adding, “The larger point is that what President Trump is now talking about in Gaza, is now encouraging other people in the Middle East to present proactive proposals for what we might consider.”

Witkoff suggested that a goal of Trump’s Gaza takeover plan was merely to push regional allies to come up with alternatives. Asked whether he accepted the Arab plan’s view that the reconstruction of Gaza can take place without displacing the Palestinians, Witkoff responded, “We’re evaluating everything there. It’s a little bit early to comment.”

Reporting on this conversation, an Israeli media organisation reminded its audience that under Trump it is not the CIA or NSC or even the State Department that calls the shots on Gaza, but Witkoff who is the most empowered envoy as he speaks for the president.

This controlled chaos unleashed by Trump continued the rest of the week with Trump withdrawing his administration’s earlier threat to expel tens of thousands of Ukrainians who arrived in the US after the war in their country.

He also seemed to suggest that ceasefire in Ukraine was ‘days away’ as, he said, both Russia and Ukraine were ready for it now. While talking up peace between Russia and Ukraine, he ratcheted up tensions with Canada by making claims over the latter’s territory on top of a trade/tariffs war.

That, in a nutshell, is Trump for you.

It would be foolish to pin hopes of much good on him. At the same time, he is so openly, blatantly transactional that you never know if the Saudi $1 trillion deal over four years that he has talked of may well make him accept the Saudi ‘two-state’ solution condition for normalisation in the Middle East.

The writer is a former editor of Dawn.

abbas.nasir@hotmail.com