The revelation that Osama bin Laden had ensconced himself in a spartan but
capacious compound in the garrison town of Abbottabad, a few kilometers
from Pakistan's military academy, continues to wrack the minds of U.S. policy
makers and American citizens alike.
There are numerous fundamental problems with the way in which the events of
the last week have been covered in the international media and described
by U.S. officials. The repercussions of these characterizations are
dangerous and profound.
First and foremost, all accounts and statements attesting to Pakistan's
official facilitation of bin Laden's tenure are irresponsibly speculative.
The United States had been monitoring the compound since August 2010 and had
even erected a CIA house to do so. If there is credible evidence of such
facilitation, the U.S. government should say so. In the absence of evidence,
conjecture is reckless. I spent last week in Islamabad interviewing
journalists working on their stories—several of them outright confessed that they
had nothing of substance and were running with sheer conjecture. Some
relied upon dubious and tentative accounts from children playing near the house,
milkmen and paperboys as well as night watchmen. As one journalist
conceded, "the standards go down" in situations like this. Unfortunately, these
sloppy articles will form the contemporary and historical understanding of
this momentous event. But let's be clear: this is not reportage; rather, it
is the substance of tabloid.
What is required right now is coolheaded investigation into what happened,
how it happened and with what—if any—official, government of Pakistan
facilitation. Baseless speculation will only fuel the inclinations in the U.S.
government to cut off Pakistan, and this would be a catastrophic strategic
blunder. Washington needs Islamabad's help. Pakistan needs the United
States just as much—and China isn't coming to the rescue anytime soon.
From Tora Bora to Abbottabad
Of course, this is not the first hint that things are not as hoped in
Pakistan. Since 9/11, Washington has given Pakistan some _$20 billion in aid, military assistance and lucrative reimbursements for its
efforts in the war on terror. All the while, Islamabad has continued to
support the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network, which operate in
Afghanistan and are responsible for thousands of coalition deaths and tens of
thousands of Afghan deaths, as well as groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba in India.
In an effort to persuade Pakistan to cease and desist, the 2009 Enhanced
Partnership with Pakistan Act (also known as the Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill)
made security assistance dependent upon the U.S. secretary of state's
certification that Pakistan is working to eliminate these groups and cease state
support of them, among other actions such as providing visibility into
nuclear-proliferation networks, tightening money-laundering legislation and
ensuring that the military does not undermine democracy in Pakistan.
Astonishingly, Secretary Clinton gave that _certification_ on March 18 of
this year—even while plans to capture bin Laden were under way. Bogus
certification is not an auspicious way to begin enforcing the new legislation's
efforts to deal with Pakistan-based security threats.
However, to American policy makers and officials, the discovery of bin
Laden tucked away in Abbottabad is unquestionably the most outrageous
provocation yet. Support for Pakistan is waning. Among those contemplating whether
Pakistan is a fraught and troublesome ally or an enemy that abets and
harbors U.S. foes while accepting U.S. funds purportedly to counter those same
foes, new seeds of doubt have been sown. Dianne Feinstein, the chairwoman of
the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on Monday that the U.S.-Pakistan
relationship "_makes less and less sense_
(http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54625.html) " and questioned the utility if not wisdom of continuing
to invest in Pakistan's people and government. This put Feinstein at odds
with the two other top-ranking members of the committee, Democrat John
Kerry and Republican Dick Lugar, who call for continued assistance to Pakistan,
arguing it will remain critical in achieving U.S. long-term objectives—
from controlling nuclear proliferation to countering a growing array of
terrorist groups apart from al-Qaeda.
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