“This is a new Pakistan. Catch up, gentlemen.” This is Ambassador Rehman’s memorable retort that will live with us for years
Brave Sherry Rehman defends Pakistan like a ferocious Tigress. We have not see this sort of smart responses since the days of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. The Pakistani Ambassador was brilliant, spontaneous, and adamantly defended the truth.
What a difference a few weeks make. Gone are the days when the Pakistani Ambassador was more loyal to Washington then he was to Pakistan. Mr. Haqqani could not find any good in Pakistan and never supported the Pakistani point of view.
The Washington Post described the interaction as “Pakistan presses demand for end to US drone strikes, citing ‘diminishing rate of returns’”.
- “Opposition to drone attacks is increasing among politicians in some countries.
- A number of Danish MPs have condemned the attacks.
- A group of 12 UK parliamentarians have written a letter to Obama urging him to stop the attacks. The Pakistani parliament has passed several motions demanding the attacks cease.
- Cessation of attacks was also set as a condition for reopening NATO supply routes.
- However when the routes reopened there was a drone attack shortly afterwards.”
Sherry Rehman, the Pakistani envoy said:
- Afridi “was contracting with a foreign intelligence agency without any permission. He was contracting with militant groups who were beheading our soldiers,”
- “He had no clue that he was engaged in a fight against or search for Osama bin Laden.”
- Rehman said Pakistan shouldn’t receive any more criticism for militants in its difficult-to-govern areas than Afghanistan does for similar hideouts on its territory.
Pakistanis can be proud of the way Rehman has defended Islamabad:
- Pakistan doesn’t have the option of ‘walking away from’ the Afghanistan-Pakistan problem, the way the US may end up doing.
- And after Lute parried a question about drone strikes in Pakistan by referring generically to US-Pakistan ‘cooperation’, Rehman said it is time for that sort of ‘robotic warfare’ to end.
- “The drone strikes now see diminishing returns,”
- “We will be seeking an end to drone strikes and there will be no compromise on that.”
“This adds to the pool of recruits we’re fighting against,” she added. - “We don’t welcome or sanctuary foreign fighters on our soil…. There is no question now of hedging bets”
- “This is a new Pakistan. Catch up, gentlemen.”
The New York Times and the Washington Post reported the renewed acrimony among Pakistan and American official brought on by denial of pockets of safe-havens in Afghanistan which are attacking Pakistan. The NYT labeled it a ‘tart exchange’, between Ambassador Sherry Rehman, Douglas Lute, President Barack Obama’s top adviser on Afghanistan and Pakistan, at the four-day Aspen Security Forum.
Rehman said:
Pakistan had lost almost $78 billion during the conflict that started after the Sept 11, 2011, terrorist attacks in the US. “More than 42,000 Pakistani civilians and soldiers have been killed,” she said. “We are fighting every day and we are taking the hit.”
Steve Kroft shot off the first salvo asking if Afridi’s punishment demonstrated that the Pakistanis “have more loyalty to Osama bin Laden than they do to the United States.” Lt-Gen Karl Eikenberry (retd) chimed in from the peanut gallery
“In a word, I’d call it outrageous.”
Defending Pakistan’s position, Pakistan’s new Ambassador vociferously refuted the allegations and said “We are working according to a constitutional norm,” she said, joining the conference panel via a video link from Washington.
- “These are critical masses of people that come in; this is not just potshots,”
- She said that on 52 different occasions in the last eight months Pakistan had provided to American and NATO commanders in Afghanistan the locations from which the militants were attacking, to no avail.
- “We’re feeling a little bit of blowback from ISAF redeployments along the border,” Ms Rehman said, referring to the NATO command in Afghanistan.
Her comments drew a sharp rebuke from Lute, the White House adviser. “There’s no comparison of the Pakistani Taliban’s relatively recent, small-in-scale presence inside Afghanistan…to the decades-long experience and relations between elements of the Pakistani government and the Afghan Taliban. So to compare these is simply, I think, unfair,” Lute said bluntly.
The NYT described it as follows– “Tensions flared between the United States and Pakistan, as two top officials traded accusations of doing too little to combat Taliban sanctuaries in Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
The theatrics are part of the bigger dilemma in US-Pakistani relations–on how to deal with each other. Neither party can afford to walk away from the relationships, though Pakistan has the upper hand because of geography. Dr. Sohail Mahmood is the Chairman of the Department of Politics and International Relations at the International Islamic University in Islamabad, Pakistan. He says:
That said, what should Pakistan do?
- The negotiations between the United States and Taliban in Qatar have stalled. Therefore, Pakistan must facilitate a Taliban-United States deal to the extent possible.
- Renounce the old discredited policy of ‘Strategic Depth’ and ‘a friendly Western border’ propounded by the Pakistan Army. Most importantly, the Zardari government must wrest control of the Afghanistan policy from the hands of the military.
It must immediately announce a stopping of support for the Haqqani network and the Lashkar-i-Taiba. Unfortunately, the Zardari Government is too preoccupied with the internal political and economic crisis to do much in this area.
The United States, on its part, must also take immediate action in a number of areas:
- The Pakistan military is worried that India is making inroads in Afghanistan and desires a role in the future of the country. More importantly, it believed that the United States was encouraging India in this development.
- The military leadership was apprehensive of any Indian role in Afghanistan and also firmly believed that these developments were happening at the cost of Pakistan.
- Therefore, the United States must do whatever it takes to reconcile India and Pakistan. It should support a final solution to the lingering Kashmir dispute.
- Stop covert CIA activity in Pakistan immediately.
- Reach out to the Pakistani civil society in a new effort at ‘winning hearts and minds’.
Sherry Rahman does the job in perfection as she is a proud Pakistani. But I am ashamed of people like Dr.Sohail Mahmood, international relations is always connected with the past credibility of nations, here in this case both USA and India does not have a clean record against Pakistan and as such you cannot trust them for anything and Pakistan is protecting itself from incidental damage which both this nation can cause. Kashmir issue can only be solved if India displays sincerity, otherwise it would be a distant dream.
SHOW and TELL;
I always wonder as to why ” publicize the drama”.This aparently cleans the dirty laundry ‘ haqqani stuff; off Zardari’s lap–. PPle will say VOW! he is challenging USA via his ambassdor.
It is a good news by every standard. Facts clearly reveals US’s full dependence on Pakistan and the cost of doing bussiness has gone up–pple want much more. Will US pay more than handfull of student visas and green cards to ” pakistan’s upper cast/elite” who have been directing the show for 60 yrs now.
I salute this lady Madam Sherry Rehman because she is the true soldier of her land. She is trying to defend her country and her people. She is brave and she stood to what is moral as in case of rights of minorities in Pakistan.
Although I don’t agree to “This is a new Pakistan”. Because Pakistan has rotten to the core and reached the point of no return.
“There’s no comparison of the Pakistani Taliban’s relatively recent, small-in-scale presence inside Afghanistan”
is Lute delusional?
No–he has selective amnesia
but you never thought anything otherwise anyways….so whats new about your rotten thinking
So Gilani and current PM are “upper caste elite”? Zardari used to steal hub caps and isn’t even educated. Kayani and Pasha were poppers. MQM is full of lower middle class and they change their office bearers every four years, Jamat e Islami is poor. Some elite?
Look at the parliamentarians–on zemtv.com
How many look like “upper crust elite”?
How do you expect the US to “catch up” as everytime they blink, there is a new PM in Pakistan ! Even FRIENDS show ran longer on TV than any Pakistani PM ! As if the conflict of the civilian and military was not bad enough, now we have the justice dept under Chaudry completing the “axis of evil” in Pakistani politics. This Rehman lady can shout all she wants, for she can do so while the PPP lasts.
Surely the Honorable Ambassador Sherry Rehman can explain why Pakistan was sheltering and harboring Osama bin Laden for over 8 years. If that is not true, how is it possible for Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of 2008 Mumbai massacre, to walk freely in Pakistan with a $10 million bounty on his head? The only plausible explanation is that the Paksitan government has no information on the whereabouts of Hafiz Saeed even though he participates in political rallies and holds press conferences.
No one ever the body of this OBL guy. The bounty on this other guy is a joke. He sits on TV, and everyone knows his address–a few miles from the US Embassy
Hunh?! Gilani was PM for 4.5 years. Friends lasted for three years. Why does it bug you?
Competing organization? Every country in the world has the same competing organizations in the world. Even Truman and Eisenhowever talked about the “Miltary Industrial Complex”. Knocking down legislature is routine matter in the US, even Federal Courts turn down legislation.
How come you spend so much time on this site under different names
I don’t use different names. The only friend I have on this site is Sneha. I don’t need to use different names. I spend time on this site as I am drawn to the lies and deceits you amuse yourself with. FRIENDS was just metamorphical comparison about how Pakistan PM doesn’t last a term. But even in metamorphy, you still had to lie. FRIENDS lasted 10 years not 3.5 years as you mentioned.
http://epguides.com/Friends/
Don’t compare the US to Pakistan. There the parliament keeps the President in control. In Pakistan the military intervenes with the Govt. And no PM ever completes a full 5 year term.
The only PM you had full term was “short cut Azis” and we both know his reputation and how he came to power in the first place.
@syed karim
u should be ashamed of urself for being gullible enough to believe one of the most obvious lies. it really amuses me when ppl ask that question.
@syed karim
u should be ashamed of urself for being gullible enough to believe one of the most obvious lies. have u no self-respect? it really amuses me when ppl ask that question.
“There the parliament keeps the President in control”
lol clearly u dont know what the murderer in chief obomba is doing…here’s a hint: he’s giving the president’s position more power.
Gheedarwani;
So in India the premiere lasts beyond 10 years?
Even a US President does not last that long.
Do something worth while like go feed an Indian – god only knows there are many mouths to feed in India. Go do something useful for a change.
While your at it, cloth him and teach him or her to stop defecating on the sidewalk tooo.
Akhbar and Ansarul-haq, how on earth did you miss smart Geederwani statement that US has a Parliament?
And it controls the President?
Zion controls all three branches, and soon say bye bye to democracy and Hello to Dictatorship as per Alex Jones and others.
Eid Mubarak to all Muslims.
Soon more bakwaas to follow, not from Waqqas, tis but from Hindukwaas.
Assalamu-Elekum