Pakistani authorities have enough evidence that implicates US diplomats and trainers in spying on Kahuta, one of the prime nuclear facilities in the country.
There is mourning in Pakistan over Mr. Holbrooke, the man who groomed Washington’s stooges in Islamabad and Kabul. Mr. Zardari beat them all by awarding the deceased Pakistan’s highest civilian honor. In Pakistani history, Mr. Holbrooke is definitely not a hero.
US bully diplomacy in Pakistan and blunders in neighboring Afghanistan have placed unbearable pressures on American diplomats. The latest one to fall is Elizabeth Rood, US Consul General in Peshawar.
Some government-linked politicians have been whispering to the media that ISI and MI did it because they were enraged at Mr. Cheema’s coverage of the ‘missing persons’ issue. That might be, but what about the government avenging Mr. Cheema’s groundbreaking story on how President Zardari and his aides hired Turkish female ‘escorts’ and failed to pay them their dues resulting in a court case in Turkey?
Pakistanis received a humiliating reminder today of how weak their nuclear-armed nation has become after eight years of a debilitating and unfair partnership with the United States in Afghanistan.
امریکہ اور برطانیہ نے اپنی مرضی کے پاکستانی رہنماﺅں کا انتخاب کیوں کیا، اور وہ ایسے کون سے کام ہیں جو محترمہ بے نظیربھٹوزرداری شہید، اور جناب سابق صدر سے نہیں نکلوائے جاسکتے تھے۔ غور کیجیے، اور سر دھنیے، اس کے سوا پاکستانی کر بھی کیا سکتے ہیں۔ لگتا ہے کہ 6 ستمبر 2008 بھی سنہ 1965 کی طرح ہی ایک یوم دفاع کا تقاضہ کررہا ہے۔ مگر اس مرتبہ دفاع پاکستان کی اخلاقی اور نظریاتی سرحدوں کا ہے، جن کے بغیر پاکستان کوئی ٹھوس حیثیت نہیں رکھتا۔
Two Pakistani employees of an American defense contractor engaged by the US Embassy in Islamabad have been linked to two attacks on Pakistani military and the assassination of a Brigadier. If this is not alarming, then consider that US Ambassador Anne Patterson’s name has come up in an investigation where thousands of dollars were paid in bribes to Interior Ministry to smuggle illegal weapons into Pakistan. Not to mention how Washington is empowering India in Afghanistan at Pakistan’s cost. When Pakistan takes countermeasures, US officials like Mr. Gates and Mr. Holbrooke accuse Pakistan of ‘anti-Americanism’ and harassing US diplomats. Time for some straight talk.
In view of the irregular and suspicious activities of US citizens who have been allowed into the country on visas issued by Mr. Husain Haqqani for the vague purpose of ‘official business’ of the US government, Islamabad moves to restrict the activities of US intelligence and other departments which are being carried out right now under diplomatic cover.
US ambassador Anne W. Patterson is secretly meeting opposition politicians to quietly convince them not to jeopardize the government of President Asif Ali Zardari. She is also making one more request: Can you issue a public statement supporting President Obama’s new plan for Afghanistan, please?
The Pakistani military rebukes US Ambassador Anne W. Patterson and her government’s Pakistani loyalists and warns that Islamabad alone has the right to decide its national interest in accordance with its priorities and not in accordance with those set in Washington DC.
The Americans are now setting the policy agenda in Pakistan in direct talks with Pakistani political parties. To ensure privacy, these talks are being held in Washington, away from prying eyes and ears in Pakistan. Pakistani politicians, writers and some academicians are being recruited to promote US policies and isolate the Pakistani military and intelligence. This is how a superpower occupies a nuclear-armed nation. Covertly.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—Finally, the Americans take their revenge. Dr. Mazari single-handedly threw cold water on Washington’s plan last year to send a rabidly anti-Pakistani US army general as defense attaché to Islamabad. The Pakistani government quietly accepted the appointment. But Dr. Mazari broke the story and aborted the plan. When the new pro-US elected government seized power, Mr. Zardari’s special assistant Husain Haqqani’s first order of business was to fire Dr. Mazari from her official post. And now the US ambassador succeeds in blocking her column. Welcome to the Banana Republic of Pakistan where soon US ambassadors will have the right appoint presidents and prime ministers. Some say they already do.