Pakistan on Thursday called yet again for a US apology for the NATO cross-border airstrike that killed two dozen of Pakistani soldiers last year, or else Islamabad won’t consider reopening supply routes to foreign troops in Afghanistan.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, speaking to reporters while on a trip to the Afghan capital Kabul, also denied reports that Pakistan was haggling with the US over transportation fees for the supplies.
“Pakistan still wants an unconditional apology and the reassurance that the Salala type of incident does not happen again,” she said, referring to the border area where the NATO strike took 24 lives unprovoked.
The Obama administration has been pushing Pakistan for months now to reopen the supply routes, but they have not let up. The closure has been very expensive for Washington, with recent reports saying it costs $100 million per month to use longer routes.
The relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan has been problematic for years, but lately it has taken on new attributes that liken the two to enemies instead of reluctant partners.
The U.S. drone strikes, the espionage and infiltration, and the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers have all contributed to the growing wrangle between Washington and Islamabad. And the Obama administration’s recent diplomatic overtures to Pakistan’s arch enemy, India, have made things even worse.
Just days after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s trip to India earlier this month, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay met with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani who claimed that the U.S. drone war violates human rights and Pakistani sovereignty. Pillay then immediately called for a UN investigation into civilian casualties in the U.S. drone war, something the Obama administration has tried very hard to avoid by lying about the true nature of the program and keeping it secret and run by the CIA, as opposed to by the military where it might have to be held accountable.
The only conceivable reason for the Obama administration’s refusal to publicly and formally apologize for the botched NATO airstrike is so that the campaigning Democrat doesn’t seem weak in front of hawkish Republican opponents. But such stubborn politics is leading to an increasingly destructive diplomatic relationship.
The tougher Obama tries the harder will be the —- on his face when the Greatest Power in the World has to finally apologise to Pakistan to beg clearance for his war machine to return home.
God help the poor American servicepeople who are the PAWNS being slaughtered – for what?
This failure to apologize for the attack nicely illustrates how the moral failure to do the right thing can have tremendous costs… Also it shows what is really important to the perpetrator… For what…… & whom……….. ??? WHY…??? To show how morally feckless WE have become…???
I have seen this $100 million per month described as a horrifying expense a couple of times on Antiwar now and just have to laugh. A hundred million a month for ten years(12 billion) might be one percent of the cost of these Asian wars' trillion dollars. And it should not be described as expense for Washington. Its resources are all stolen money in any case. Why would that bunch care? So far there is plenty more where that came from. It's cheap for Obomber and company to disregard it just to look tough for the booboisie.
The Pakistan Prime Minister, Gilani, he just got fired and corporate owned mainstream media says not a word about he being the one who is pushing the UN for a ruling against the drone strikes. Amazing how the Western world is locked in such mental darkness, as if it was,
“Babylon, land of deepest shadow and deep darkness, where even light is like darkness.”
Nice stuff John and many thanks
THANK YOU John………. "corporate owned mainstream media says not a word about he being the one who is pushing the UN for a ruling against the drone strikes"
Just another coincidence no doubt…. like how those in charge of NSA and NORAD on 911 got PROMOTED……. I was saying bad things in comments about Gilani…. Thank You for bringing to my attention…. I would not have said such things had I known……… I had seen him a facilitator of the strikes……..