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rawtape -> RE: Our allies in Pakistan (6/17/2011 6:02:08 PM)
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There are at least three issues to consider here.
First, no nation tolerates its own citizens spying for a foreign power, even if said power is considered (or publicly proclaimed as) an ally. Otherwise the US would not have sentenced Jonathan Pollard to life imprisonment. And given that Pakistan is still ostensibly a democracy, with many of its citizens not overly enthusiastic about what they perceive as attacks on their sovereignty, one cannot really fault their administration for the arrests. After all, they have the recent examples of the Arab Spring to see what happens to the ruling elites when the masses are not too happy.
Second, there is the issue of realpolitik -- balancing China's influence in the neighborhood. Note that China has already been positioning itself to take advantage of the latest US-Pakistan tiff: selling its latest aircraft to Pakistan and leasing a future naval base from them. Pakistan can easily play off one against the other.
Third, as long as US troops are in Afghanistan, the US needs Pakistan as a staging ground for ferrying supplies. Thus, one simply cannot sever ties with them, or threaten them with say, withholding funds or armaments. They temporarily hold the tactical upper hand, and always have the option or turning to China for assistance.
Frankly, successive American administrations have, over the decades, done a terrible job of playing the Great Game in South Asia. And these are the results.
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