Congressional Baluchistan Witness Prepares for Pakistan Policy Firestorm

http://www.examiner.com/

In an election year, anything is possible. But, when anything includes the U.S. policy approach to Pakistan, Congress must remain a responsible stakeholder. Members of Congress must clearly convey their intentions when taking on potentially contentious issues that risk undermining one of the Barack Obama Administration's and the U.S. military’s most important strategic partnerships. Baluchistan is clearly one of those issues. However, the Congressmen who have scheduled a hearing on Baluchistan for this week have failed to properly set expectations as to what they are trying to accomplish. This could raise fears that some in Congress are recklessly engaged in a high stakes gamble to undermine the Administration's policy approach on Pakistan under the guise of Baloch human rights concerns.

Regardless of whether or not this is true, the scheduling of the hearing has increased expectations among some in the Baloch diaspora that the U.S. will support their cause. It also has forced Pakistan to question how committed the U.S. is to Pakistan's territorial integrity. Such consequences pose great risks for the Administration's ongoing efforts in South and Southwest Asia. Mr. Ali Dayan Hasan, the Pakistan Director of Human Rights Watch and one of the hearing's scheduled witnesses, is well aware of the serious risks posed by the hearing. However, he also sees the hearing as an opportunity to educate members of Congress and the American public on the very real human rights violations being prosecuted against civilians on both sides in Baluchistan. His objective therefore will be to remain on point on human rights issues and not be drawn into the crosshairs of whether or not to support the Balkanization of Pakistan.