Pakistan PM: No More Business as Usual With the United States
Govt Rules Out Reconsidering Ouster of US From Shamsi Drone Base
In what is usually the punctuation at the end of such an incident, the White House today issued its statement on the Friday night US attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, insisting that killing them was a “tragedy.”
But as much as they’d like to make this just another in a long line of forgotten incidents, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani said today that the government is going to react harshly to the attack, and that it marked the end of “business as usual” with the United States.
Saying that the government had “no option” but to respect the will on the public, at a time when massive anti-US protests are breaking out in several major cities, Gilani warned that the government was “re-evaluating” its relationship with the US.
The near term impact is the closure of the border to NATO supply trucks, as well as a demand that the US leave the Shamsi Air Base. In the long-run the split could have many more ramifications, particularly with the massive US-led occupation of Afghanistan still going so poorly.
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JLS
November 28th, 2011 at 9:15 pm
"Gilani warned that the government was “re-evaluating” its relationship with the US."
Translation: We're going to need more "foreign aid" money to forget this incident.
Dr.Khan
November 29th, 2011 at 8:32 am
Agreed upon, but equally as Pakistani citizen it is no more business as usual with our own GOVT either.Therefore watchout please.We as Nation never asked for any AID and nor are we letting our crooks in govt get any of that anymore.USA can keep their Dollars for now as we wait and see what our Govt do ahead.
contraviews
November 29th, 2011 at 3:20 pm
If the US raised their financial support for Pakistan's ONE percent (1%) they might be in business again……Well is that not the way it usually works when dealing with client states ? The 99% can stick it up their……………in western style 'democracies'
JLS
November 29th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
I think that is correct Dr. Khan. It's always the politicians in any country, and not the people, who want US foreign aid, which of course is nothing more than a bribe and most of which goes to the military anyway. Good luck taking bacck your country, it looks like it will be as difficult for Pakistani citizens as it is for American citizens.