You Can Always Count On Pakistan To Do The Wrong Thing

Last week’s conviction of Dr. Shekeel Afridi by a Tribal Justice Court, even though it had no jurisdiction to try the matter, exemplifies Pakistan’s complete disregard to the rule of law and the why it can always be counted on to do the wrong thing. Instead of rewarding Dr. Afridi and celebrating his cooperation with the CIA that led to the identification and capture of Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan a year ago, he was tried and convicted for treason and sentenced to 33-years in prison. Dr. Afridi helped the CIA determine that Bin Laden’s family members were in the compound where Navy Seals later killed him. He set up a store front vaccination clinic and captured the DNA of women living in Bin Laden’s compound that verified they were Bin Laden’s family members. That match made it most probable Bin Laden himself was in the compound, and probably led to President Obama’s decision to unleash the Seals to get him. Without that positive DNA match of the family members, the likelihood of the special operators getting the green light from the White House would have been understandably very slim. From my experience working and living in Pakistan while on a DEA diplomatic assignment from 1994 - 1998, the worst crime someone could commit was to “malign” the military. The military is the most respected government institution in Pakistan, and anyone who proves it doesn’t deserve the respect it demands receives severe punishment. A Pakistani Foreign Service National DEA investigator named Ayyaz Baluch performed an undercover assignment in Islamabad to further a New York Division investigation. His job was to meet with a Pakistani Air Force (PAF) major and pay him thousands of dollars for his recent sale of a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of heroin he delivered to a DEA informant in the U.S. on a recent PAF flight to Dover, DE Air Force Base. The major “fronted” the heroin to the informant with the understanding a “relative” of the informant would pay him in Islamabad upon his return. I sat in the restaurant of the Marriott hotel in Islamabad and witnessed the payment to the major who promised to deliver more heroin on his next trip to Dover. A month or so later he delivered two more kilograms to the informant in New York City and DEA immediately took him into custody. When the Pakistani military received word of what happened all hell broke loose for the American diplomatic community, and especially for Mr. Baluche. After weeks of non-stop newspaper editorials and articles about how DEA agents in Pakistan were actually CIA officers assigned to steal its nuclear secrets, goons of the Inter-Service Intelligence agency kidnapped Mr. Baluche from his home. For the next year he was lodged at an air force confinement facility, systematically beaten, tortured, and hounded to sign statements that he was working with the Americans to steal Pakistan’s nuclear secrets. Despite the protests from DEA and the American Embassy, he was court-martialed even though he was a civilian, and given a multi-year prison sentence. After a year, the Pakistan military decided to turn him over to DEA who immediately arranged for his departure from the country after securing a permanent resident U.S. visa. Mr. Baluch is now a U.S. Citizen and a senior intelligence analyst assigned to DEA headquarters. What happened to Mr. Baluch is similar to what happened to Dr. Afridi. The Pakistan government should have commended both for their heroics; instead it punished them for doing the right thing. The Government of Pakistan’s action is a clear message to its citizens that providing information to the U.S. about the hiding places or intentions of terrorists within its borders will not be tolerated. These same citizens already know that with Pakistan’s endemic corruption, providing any viable, actionable information to the authorities is a complete waste of time and only poses a danger to the informer. Pakistan’s demand for an apology for U.S. forces killing 24 of its soldiers after they fired across the border on them, coupled with extorting us for the release of tons of our war supplies in country before they are allowed to transit into Afghanistan are not the actions of a “partner” in the war on terror. Congress cutting 33-million dollars in aid to Pakistan this year to symbolize the 33-year prison sentence Dr. Afridi received is a good start. It’s time to cut all U.S. aid to the Pakistan regime and begin seeking alternative ways to resupply our troops in Afghanistan. This is the only way Pakistan will change its ways and eventually become a full-fledge member of the international community. Giving into Pakistan’s demands will only lead to other similar situations.