Americans Once Again “Distinguished” Themselves in Pakistan; This Time with Diplomats and More Drones

In the last year or two, Pakistani authorities, who are usually referred to as “competent,” have constantly had to deal with the Americans. This includes the U.S. diplomats who are breaking local laws, the involvement of CIA officers, and U.S. drones—unmanned aircraft/UAV, which methodically strike Pakistani territory with missiles several times a week.

There is no benefit for Islamabad from this relationship with Washington, but there is a big disadvantage to bilateral relations, which have now become very strained. The extent of this “tension” was demonstrated by two events last Monday. The first of these occurred near the city of Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan’s province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Police detained for inspection two vehicles with U.S. Embassy license plates. The U.S. Embassy employees behind the wheel of both vehicles did not have special permission to visit this region of Pakistan, where —because of its proximity to the tumultuous Afghanistan — there is something like a state of emergency in effect and a special permit system for entry is set up. To reiterate, the U.S. diplomats did not have such documents, but the Pakistani police did find weapons in their cars. Judging by the sizes and sheer number of these, they were not intended for self-defense, but then why did the U.S. embassy staff take the weapons with them on this trip?

This situation reminded the Pakistanis about an incident that happened two years ago, when an officer by the name of Davis from the American consulate general shot and killed two local residents with a pistol in Karachi. The “diplomat,” as it turned out, was actually a CIA agent acting under diplomatic cover. The arrest of Davis started the crisis in relations between Pakistan and the United States, who had been allies and partners. Then a series of events followed that damaged the relationship even further. These included the U.S. drone missile attacks on Pakistani partner territories, which continued in spite of their strong protests and the killings of 24 Pakistani border guards by NATO helicopters in November of last year. Also, before that, in May of 2011, U.S. Special Forces killed al-Qaida’s leader Osama bin Laden, who was hiding in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad. As a result, the relationship between Islamabad and Washington has left much to be desired and now this incident has taken place with the detention of U.S. diplomats at the entrance to Peshawar.

U.S. Consul General Mary Richard, who was quick to arrive at the place of the incident, was unable to secure the release of her detained colleagues. They are still in custody, and it appears that there will be an investigation conducted in regard to these two diplomats. It is possible that a second event, which took place on June 4 in the same general area of Pakistan in North Waziristan, may impact how the investigation proceeds. Missiles fired in the area from an American drone may have killed Abu Yahya al-Libi, who is considered al-Qaida’s “second-in-command” and standing in the hierarchy of the world terrorist network close to its new leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

It’s hard to say whether Pakistan will mourn the death of al-Libi, the more so since it has not yet been confirmed. In any case, Pakistan will not welcome the new U.S. drone attacks in North Waziristan. This is especially evident when one considers that in the period from June 3 to June 4, U.S. drone attacks in the country killed at least 30 people who had not been involved in any terrorist activity. Taking into account the detainees at Peshawar, U.S. diplomats can hardly expect an early end to their troubles, as one should not anticipate rapid improvement in relations between Pakistan and the United States.

Although, as devout Pakistanis like to say, “Insha’Allah,” all is in the hands of Allah.