Analyzing The Reported Contacts Between Imran Khan & America

Considering that it’s impossible to have a high degree of confidence in the long-term prospects of the US’ maximalist aims in Pakistan, it therefore follows that America’s comparatively less ideologically radical decisionmakers might reasonably contemplate pragmatically recalibrating this policy.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was deposed in early April by a US-orchestrated but domestically driven post-modern coup as punishment for his independent foreign policy, reportedly met with former US diplomat, CIA analyst, and regional expert Robin Raphel. His enemies are spinning this news exactly as they twisted prior reports about him secretly speaking with the American Ambassador and supposedly hiring a US lobbying firm to misportray the PTI chief as hypocritical.

According to this information warfare narrative, he doesn’t truly believe that the US was responsible for his ouster but just invented that tale to gin up popular support for his planned political comeback. Those who peddle this interpretation of relevant reports also claim that he exploited so-called “anti-American” sentiment in advance of that goal. After all, according to them, it allegedly goes against everything that he’s said since his removal to have any positive contact with the US.

The reality is altogether different exactly as everything malicious that’s been claimed about the former premier since his ouster has always turned out to be. He was never “anti-American” in the first place, as the author explained in his analysis for a leading Russian think tank in late April, but consistently pro-Pakistani since all that Imran Khan ever wanted was to have equal relations with the US. Moreover, the author also defended the former leader’s reported efforts to improve ties with the US in mid-August.

It's of the highest importance that the man who might once again preside over Pakistan in the event of free and fair elections clearly articulates his approach to America in order to counteract all the fake news about it. His enemies are propagating false claims about his stance to fearmonger that he’s some kind of radical, which is meant to turn people against him while also reinforcing US support for the unpopular proxies that they installed in his place.

Pakistanis deserve to know that former Prime Minister Khan’s envisaged policies are the epitome of patriotism and pragmatism, not treason and radicalism like they’ve been misportrayed. As for America, it must urgently understand that his likely return to office (whenever that may be absent the scenario him being jailed or killed, God forbid) won’t see him working against their objective mutual interests since he sincerely intends to cultivate positive but fair ones like he recently reaffirmed.

None of this is hypocritical, goes against his belief that the US was indeed responsible for his ouster through a post-modern coup, or amounts to him having in hindsight supposedly exploited “anti-Americanism” for self-interested political reasons. Claiming otherwise is nothing but a malicious form of information warfare against the minds of average Pakistanis and American decisionmakers, thus making it a subsect of Hybrid Warfare or what’s described as Fifth Generational Warfare (5GW) in Pakistan.

The US wants to complete South Asia’s geostrategic reorientation that’s seen Pakistan transform from the “Zipper of Eurasia” into the “Faultline of Eurasia” as a result of the post-modern coup that the US orchestrated through its domestic proxies (some of whom were simply “useful idiots”). The top obstacle to the project, however, has been the unprecedented unpopularity of the imported government and the resultantly escalating peaceful resistance of the population to this foreign-backed de facto dictatorship.

With such an unstable basis, this geostrategic project’s future will forever remain precarious, and could even collapse if a critical mass of the population becomes radicalized to the point of successfully replicating Iran’s genuinely anti-American revolution. That scenario can’t be discounted and worrying becomes ever more credible the longer that the US’ newly installed dictatorship continues blatantly defying the people’s will and abusing dissidents with impunity.

Considering that it’s impossible to have a high degree of confidence in the long-term prospects of the US’ maximalist aims in Pakistan, it therefore follows that America’s comparatively less ideologically radical decisionmakers might reasonably contemplate pragmatically recalibrating this policy. To that end, it makes perfect sense for them to quietly enter into contact with Imran Khan in order for him to articulate his vision for Pakistan so that they can see whether it’s partially compatible with theirs.

The common ground that might be found between them is his desire for Pakistan to be truly neutral in the New Cold War between the US-led West’s Golden Billion and the BRICS-led Global South. At present, the puppet government practices a policy of faux neutrality whereby it proclaims neutrality towards the Ukrainian Conflict and hasn’t sanctioned Russia but is accused of clandestinely shipping arms to Kiev and arguably considered right now by Moscow to be connected to ISIS-K’s bombing of its Kabul Embassy. 

While America’s maximalist ambitions certainly wouldn’t be attained by him potentially cutting off that rat line to Kiev, ensuring that all relevant anti-terrorist information is shared with Russia, and moving forward with the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline, his principled commitment to remaining neutral in the New Cold War means that Pakistan will always be open for mutually beneficial US investments. The reality is that any such deals would represent the maximum extent of US influence that’s sustainable.

As seen in the five months since the post-modern coup, anything more than that which goes against Pakistan’s objective national interests and returns it to being an American vassal is unacceptable for the vast majority of the population. Their peaceful resistance to the lopsided relationship with the US that was just imposed on them means that this approach has very precarious long-term prospects like was earlier explained, hence why it’s best for the US to pragmatically recalibrate while it has the chance.

Like was previously written, the longer that the post-modern coup authorities continue defying the people’s will and abusing dissidents with impunity, the more credible the scenario of an Iranian-like anti-American revolution becomes since some people will surely become radicalized by events. It’s therefore urgent for the US to switch gears while it still can by ordering its proxies to hold free and fair elections as soon as possible so that the political crisis that it created can be peacefully defused.

Failing to do so forever carries with it the risk that greedily trying to advance its maximalist aims in Pakistan at the expense of that country’s interests and its people’s self-respect will dramatically backfire exactly as it did in Iran over four decades ago. The only way to preemptively counteract this increasingly credible worst-case scenario is for the Pakistani people to decide for themselves who they want to rule them instead of the declining unipolar American hegemon selecting a cabal of crooks for this role.

Returning Pakistan to its previous policy of principled neutrality that it sincerely practiced prior to the post-modern coup and thus fully restoring its sovereignty is therefore in the US’ objective interests since it thwarts the Iranian scenario while preserving the possibility of mutually beneficial investments. American can therefore manage to maintain some positive influence in Pakistan instead of risk losing it all in the worst way possible if that country goes the route that Iran did in 1979.

First, however, the US must accept that its maximalist aims in Pakistan are unlikely to be achieved over the long term due to the unsustainability of the basis upon which this policy is built as evidenced by the unprecedented unpopularity of its proxies. Second, it must then realize that the only realistic pressure valve is free and fair elections as soon as possible, after which it must accept the third step of Imran Khan returning to office in that scenario.

That former leader’s reported contact with American officials, both direct through his alleged video call with its ambassador last month and latest supposed meeting with Raphel as well as indirect via the US lobbying firm that his party supposedly hired, is likely intended to convince them of those three steps. They’re seemingly receptive too otherwise Raphel wouldn’t have met with him like was recently claimed, which suggests that the US might be reconsidering its support for the puppet regime.

Of course, it’s probably only that comparatively less ideologically radical faction of its decisionmakers that are exploring that possible policy recalibration at this point, but even that in and of itself is an achievement insofar as revealing that some US officials are having second doubts about their proxies. Until real action follows, nobody should get their hopes up, but nor should they lose hope either since it can’t be ruled out that the US might accept Imran’s return just like it seems to accept Lula’s in Brazil.