The ANPs fact-finding mission, which was tasked with investigating the reason for the partys electoral

defeat, declared baba A am !han "oti as one of the main c#lprits$ %n response "oti came o#t lashing at the ANPs top leadership, as he alleged that Asfandyar !han received a whooping &'() million bribe from the *+$ %t wo#ld have been better for "oti +ahib had he stopped there and spoken of some secret +wiss acco#nts$ ,#t instead he #sed a very morbid yet poetic analogy to s#ggest that the blood of the ANPs -)) martyrs is being #sed as oil in the lamps of Asfandyars hotels in .alaysia and palaces in /#bai$ 0hile the analogy was good eno#gh to be played repeatedly on all news channels, it also increased the b#rden of proof for "oti$ "e is absol#tely right in saying that s#ch transfers of money dont come with receipts$ ,#t then he m#st also know that property ownership does not come witho#t title deeds$ %f there are hotels and palaces, then they m#st have names and addresses$ These allegations have been aro#nd for a while now, and "oti co#ld have finally s#bstantiated these with evidence$ ,#t instead, he simply repeated what has already been said$ The credibility of these allegations then can be 1#dged from the fact that even a former close confidant of Asfandyar !han does not have any evidence to prove them$ 2iven this fact, it is s#rprising to see the level of acceptance these allegations are finding among workers of the ANPs opposition parties$ %t is very likely that if 3asy 4oad baba decided to 1oin any of their parties he wo#ld face stiff opposition from these same workers beca#se of his lack of credibility$ An amo#nt of &'() million is not given for nothing$ The ANP wo#ld have been worth s#ch a price tag had its stance on the war on terror been contrary to that of the *nited +tates$ %t wo#ld have made sense to b#y the ANP had it been screaming abo#t blocking Nato s#pply ro#tes, or calling the war on terror to be someone elses war or referring to the Taliban as o#r people$ ,#t it did none of that, and that is beca#se the ANPs war against this madness started way before 5677$ At a time when the "a88ani network was gracing the lawns of the 0hite "o#se, and 9ohn :ambo was shooting down :#ssian helicopters with arrows$ ;or the ANP this is an e<istential war, and not an advent#re in a far-off land that comes with a c#t-and-r#n option$ %t is the *+ that woke #p to this threat in =))7$ ,acha !han and 0ali !han had forewarned abo#t these dangers two decades before that, when the *+ was n#rt#ring these very monsters$ %f the ANP was opposing these e<tremists when the *+ was s#pporting them, then why wo#ld the ANP change its stance 1#st beca#se the *+ had a change of heart> %t was the ANPs war way before it became the *nited +tates war$

"owever, if one has to look for some inc#mbency ind#ced pro-*+ mood swings then one sho#ldnt look beyond the P.4-N, the PT% and the 9amaat-e-%slami$ The pro-negotiations Nawa +harif is now tilting heavily towards other options, given the ??5 deaths since he took office$ Ama ingly, it is an epiphany that did not dawn #pon him while Pakistan was raking #p @),))) deaths d#ring the last ten years$ The principled PT%, the one that was convinced abo#t foreign aid being a c#rse for Pakistan, is now b#ilding a Naya Pakht#nkhwa with f#nds from donors belonging to the Nato alliance$ The feisty 9amaat-e-%slami, the one that #sed to dharna-block Nato s#pply ro#tes, had #ntil recently switched to blocking any resol#tion that asked for banning Nato s#pplies from passing thro#gh !hyber Pakht#nkhwa$ All one has to do is to wear a conspiracy-laden fe and ask why these hawks of five months ago are now s#ddenly cooing like pigeons> ;or starters one co#ld consider the pro<imity of *+ embassy to both the P. "o#se as well as ,ani 2ala$ The plot wo#ld thicken by also pondering #pon those post-victory trips to the westA Nawa +harif meeting Bbama, %mran !han hobnobbing with ,ritish royalty and +ira1#l "a8 roaming aro#nd 3#rope$ And with this overwhelming evidence abo#t contacts with the C%A and the .%(, all one has to do is to throw in a neat little fig#re of &'() million per party and it sho#ld all start making sense$ %f this so#nds prepostero#s then A am !hans claims sho#ld so#nd twice as cra y$ The *-t#rns of the P.4-N, PT% and 9% can be e<plained in the conte<t of their empty election promisesA peace in 5) days, breaking the %.; kashkol, saying no to foreign aid, negotiations the only sol#tion etc$ 0ith the votes sec#rely bagged these parties are now grad#ally switching to the policies of the last five years, especially on the war on terror$ %t is yet to be seen whether the chest th#mping over "akeem#llahDs death is 1#st playing to the galleries or something more$ ,#t one thing is for s#reE by considering options other than negotiations these parties have vindicated the stance of the ANP and the PPP, a stance that incl#ded the +wat agreement as well as a block on Nato s#pplies$ %t is time to accept that maybe, 1#st maybe, negotiations never were an option a lesson we sho#ld have learnt from the fail#re of the +wat agreement and many others and that this has always been o#r own war and not someone elseDs$ And once that realisation sinks in, then it is easy to see that foreign money is not needed as an incentive to fight ones own war$ ,eca#se when the threat is to ones e<istence and there is no option of flight, then the only option left is to fight$ The writer is a freelance contrib#tor$"e blogs at iopyne$wordpress$com and tweets Fiopyne$

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