Daily Times

According to the Pentagon probe carried out by the US Central Command into the November 26 NATO attack that killed 24 Pakistani troops and injured many others along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, responsibility rests with both sides. The findings of the enquiry suggest that the attack was the result of “inadequate coordination between the US and Pakistan military officers”, incorrect maps used by US forces, and their being unaware of the location of the Pakistani border posts. Another key finding was that the attack was in retaliation for firing on US troops, an assertion likely to further aggravate the already frail ties between the US and Pakistan. Rejecting the conclusions of the report — of which only brief facts have been revealed — the Pakistani military has said that it will respond fully upon receiving the full details of the report. Had the US offered an apology — as Pakistan has been demanding of it — in the very beginning, things may have turned out differently and not escalated to this level. The US’s expression of ‘deep regret’ and condolences to the families of the victims, asserting that the assault was not intentional, is insufficient. However, it is understandable why the US being the sole superpower of the world finds ‘sorry’ the hardest word to utter and thus considers its exclusive status a justification for its arrogance and unwillingness to apologise — a gesture clearly deemed by it as a sign of weakness.

Nevertheless, the results of this investigation raise as many questions as they answer and it would be unrealistic to expect that it will lay the controversy to rest any time soon. Given the circumstances — resentment of the Pakistani people at the blatant violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and killing of two dozen soldiers — the US concession that ‘mistakes’ and ‘misunderstandings’ led to the incident is unlikely to soothe the ruffled feathers here. The implications are that cooperation with the US, which has already been on a standstill since November 26 due to the shutdown of NATO logistics, will continue to suffer along with the non-exchange of intelligence to help NATO effectively combat the militants. For now, it appears that the door to restoring normal relations between the two countries is to remain shut. *