A Friend in Need ...

How bad can a relationship between two military allies get? Pakistan and the U.S. keep us guessing.

In the wake of a NATO attack killing 25 Pakistani soldiers this weekend, Pakistan has indefinitely shut NATO supply lines through the country and said it was re-evaluating its military, intelligence and diplomatic links with the U.S. It also gave the U.S. two weeks to pull out of a Pakistani air base that Washington has used in the past to launch covert drone strikes on Taliban militants. Pakistan is also threatening to pull out of next week's Bonn conference on Afghanistan, at which key stakeholders will attempt to draw up a plan for transition from a US-led NATO command to an Afghan security force by December 2014.With Pakistan's co-operation considered key to an orderly and peaceful transition, the Afghan authorities urged Islamabad to reconsider.

With plans of a pull out starting as early as next year, this may not be the first strategic mistake the US had made in this war, but it could yet prove the costliest. The short-term response is not as troubling as the long-term implications. The closure of NATO supply lines will make Barack Obama more dependent on Vladimir Putin's goodwill, and the northern supply route through which 60% of troops and military cargo to Afghanistan now travel. But, of itself, the closures will be a temporary problem. Of greater significance is the erosion of Pakistani public support for the US fight against the Taliban. Images of the funerals of the young martyrs filled television screens across Pakistan on Sunday and protests against the attack were held throughout the country. “Imagine how we would feel if it had been 24 American soldiers killed by Pakistani forces at this moment,” Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat from Illinois, said on Fox News Sunday.

Hilary Clinton and Pentagon big shots responded with the usual regrets and worthless determinations to investigate, without admitting responsibility - all while Pakistan's own death toll from the "war on terror" rises, it struggles under an excess of American demands that are contrary to its own national interest, and as uninformed, people-pleasing US-senators and Republican presidential candidates continue to pick on this infinitely more important country.

The thought that destabilized, poor Pakistan has no choice but to slavishly obey what the master says could be one of the biggest misconceptions of this century. If bullied for long enough, it could learn to firmly and politely tell the US that it must, from henceforth, conduct its war on terror by itself and that while Pakistan is willing to be a friend, it is unwilling to destabilise and destroy its own stability for the neocon cause. Then, Pakistan has other friends to turn to: alternative alliances with China or Russia could lead to a completely different ball game.

Pakistani soldiers carry coffins of their comrades killed in a NATO air strike during a funeral ceremony in Peshawar
Photo: AFP PHOTO / A. MAJEED

Remember our Raymond Davis, Washington?

In a new twist of events, Raymond Davis has been revealed to be a part of a covert, C.I.A.-led team collecting intelligence and conducting surveillance on militant groups deep inside Pakistan. He has worked for years as a C.I.A. contractor, including time at Blackwater, now Xe, that is viewed by many Pakistanis as symbolizing a culture of American gun-slinging overseas. 

Since the United States is not at war in Pakistan, the American military is largely restricted from operating in the country. So the C.I.A. has taken on an expanded role, operating armed drones that kill militants inside the country and running covert operations, sometimes without the knowledge of the Pakistanis.

Davis carried an American diplomatic passport and was listed as “administrative and technical staff,” a category that would grant him diplomatic immunity. But with Pakistan’s government trying to clamp down on the increasing flow of C.I.A. agents trying to gain entry into the country, more of these operatives have been granted “cover” as embassy employees and given diplomatic passports.

President Barack Obama has demanded the release of Raymond Davis, but the Pakistan government has insisted the matter will be decided by the courts.

In the absence of any deal, the Pakistan government reportedly sought a way out of the stand-off by offering to trade his release for that of Dr Aafiya Siddiqui, a US-trained neuro-scientist currently serving an 86 year sentence for the attempted murder of an American soldier in Afghanistan. Her supporters claim she was illegally detained by American intelligence agents in Pakistan and held in a number of secret jails in Afghanistan before the shooting incident. Her three children were taken into custody with her, when the youngest one was still an infant. Two of her children went missing for a longtime. Many believe 86 years in prison for attempted murder to be outrageous - especially with the lack of evidence in Siddiqui's case.

It's funny how the U.S. government is suddenly so pro-active in pressurizing the Pakistani administration to release an American who killed two Pakistanis in broad daylight. The scenario was totally opposite with a detained Pakistani a few months ago. Davis or Siddiqui, American or Pakistani. Justice needs to be served. Superpowers need  to stop bending the rules for themselves. No one can be allowed to take law into their hands.