Daily Times

While the country wrestles with a myriad of economic, political, and social issues, the last thing it needs is a new detrimental development in Pakistan-US relations. After the November 26, 2011 tragedy at the Salala check post, where 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed by US forces, Pakistan adopted a vehement stance of demanding an apology from Washington. Pakistan-US relations were already reeling from the debacles of the Raymond Davis case and the May 2 operation in Abbottabad to kill Osama bin Laden. The Salala killings unleashed a never before seen retaliatory reaction from the usually ‘docile’ government in Islamabad. Despite reiterated governmental demands for an unconditional apology from the US government and the NATO high command, Pakistan has received nothing but a refusal from the US. The latter on the other hand continued with its tacit, and at times, angry demand that the routes for NATO supplies, without which the continuous transportation of goods to the allied forces in Afghanistan had become increasingly expensive and laborious, to be opened immediately. Pakistan’s constant refusal has now culminated in the passing of a bill by the House Armed Services Committee of the US Congress on Thursday that imposes conditions on US economic and military aid, which will depend on Islamabad’s actions regarding terrorists, the menace of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and the reopening of NATO supply routes. It is payback time.

When a deal is made by a third world country with the only superpower in the world, underlining an agenda of ostensible full and unconditional support, the latter unarguably delineates the conditions. Pakistan, being the weaker party in the equation, ‘agreed’ to help the US in its war against terror and for capturing Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 9/11 tragedy, and the ‘elimination’ of al Qaeda and its affiliates in the Pakistan-Afghanistan theatre. The rest, as the world witnessed, is the chaos that unfolded and continues to date. The inherently flawed strategy of the US to invade and occupy a country to rid it of unwanted elements became an even bigger fiasco because of the so-called cooperation of Pakistan. The inherent contradictions in the mismatched partnership only cratered wider with time. While Pakistan received aid and favours from the US, certain sections of its establishment continued with their undercover assistance to the US-hating militants inside and outside Pakistan. Being the weaker, unwilling partner in an undesirable compromise, the best option is not to even touch the hand that feeds your economic, developmental and military packages. One wrong move, and here there are plenty, and the pound of flesh is exacted — publicly and humiliatingly. *