Pakistan: The Crisis with the United States Worsens

The death of 24 Pakistani servicemen over the weekend revives tensions between the two “allies.”

It was already a “mess” and the term “worsening” probably sums it up the most clearly, according to former CIA officer Bruce Riedel, now an analyst at the Brookings Institution, after the serious clashes this past weekend at the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan. NATO helicopters and fighter jets opened fire on two Pakistani army bases, killing 24 soldiers and officers.

Islamabad’s leaders reported on Sunday to Washington that the city felt “a deep sense of rage” and ordered immediate measures of retaliation. The government closed the two main crossing points that supply NATO forces in Afghanistan and gave the United States 15 days to evacuate the Shamsi air base in Balochistan. This air base has been used in the past to lead drone attacks.

Taliban

NATO and the United States expressed “condolences” to the Pakistani armed forces and promised an investigation into the circumstances of this blunder, the most serious since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan in 2001. “It is clear that something went very wrong,” acknowledged one U.S. official, quoted by The New York Times. From the U.S. side, however, we recall that the NATO forces deployed in eastern Afghanistan are frequently the subject of shots from positions close to Pakistani military posts. They could well have caused strikes this weekend, which was also pointed out in Washington.

The killing comes at a time when the relationship between Pakistan and the United States is in the process of “collapse,” says Bruce Riedel, charged at the beginning of the Obama presidency to oversee U.S. policy in the region. In Afghanistan, Pakistanis and Americans are virtually at war, even if indirectly, and Pakistani forces continue to support the Afghan Taliban. Obama, who has recognized since being elected that Islamabad is a key to any solution in Afghanistan, had promised a visit to Pakistan this year, but has yet to follow through.

The problem is that the raid in May that helped kill the leader of al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden, in the heart of a Pakistani garrison town has heightened resentment in both countries. In Pakistan, there is outrage that violent Americans have repeatedly asked for “national sovereignty.” In Washington, the Pakistani military is suspected of having for years protected the United States’ number one public enemy.

Aggravated or not, the relationship with Pakistan is still “without an alternative” for the United States, according to analyst Vali Nasr, another expert at the Brookings Institution who has also advised the government: “Now that the Obama administration has decided to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by 2014, it has no choice but to try to stabilize its relations with Pakistan.”*

“Patience”

The attention and increased aid to Islamabad made since the beginning of Barack Obama’s term has also been successful, says Vali Nasr. “The problem is that from 2009, the U.S. began to find that the glass was half empty,”* says Nasr. “The U.S. administration lacks patience. But the pressure on Pakistan only aggravates tensions. From the moment you decide to leave Afghanistan, you cannot allow tensions to escalate on the ground.”*

*Editor’s note: This quote, accurately translated, could not be verified.