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Pakistan: "Diplomats" - American Style

By Mir Adnan Aziz

02 February, 2011
Countercurrents.org

Embassies of yore were designed to enhance interaction with the people
of the country where they were housed. Diplomats visited the work
place of officials, shopped at local market places, socialized with
community leaders and mixed with the general public. Diplomacy was an
art loath to aggression and remote control.

The role of these missions was to protect its interests within the
limits permitted by international and local law. When it started in
1967, the American Embassy in Pakistan was pretty much a cultural
centre with a theater, library and lots of open events to promote
American values and culture. In those days the most Embassies did was
indulge in an often comical battle of wits, bugs and telephone taps.
Today’s American Embassies are citadels that proclaim the present US
identity to the world. These impregnable fortresses completely isolate
those inside from the country hosting them.

Many in the West would cite attacks as a reason. Many term it, as do
those who have suffered at the hands of US policies and interventions,
as nothing but blowback. The new 104 acre US Embassy in Baghdad is six
times larger than the United Nations compound in New York and
two-thirds the acreage of Washington's National Mall.

Former secretary of state Lawrence Eagleburger had these comments
about the Baghdad fortress: "I have been around the State Department
long enough to know you cannot run an outfit like that. … We're
throwing people and money at something without estimating what the
culture demands. It's hubris." The "International Crisis Group" termed
it as a symbol of "who called the shots in Iraq".

“Technical Adviser” Raymond David (an alias - real name unknown), the
Mozang Rambo who murdered two people in Lahore portrays the mindset
and modus operandi of "diplomats" - American style. Armed with an
unlicensed 9mm Glock and driving a car with a fake number plate was
reason enough to detain him; that he murdered two people is shocking
and gruesome. Reportedly he has claimed self-defense whereas the Post
Mortem report shows that Fiazan and Fahim were shot in the back. Soft
nose (dum dum) bullets were used that created havoc in the two young
receiving bodies. One of the murdered is reported to have been shot
eight times.

The Consulate vehicle sent in a Hollywood like retrieval (driven by
yet another American Rambo) sped up a one-way road killing young Ibad
ur Rehman and wounding others. Failing to retrieve the "Technical
Adviser" it sped away to the "immune" US Consulate which has refused
to hand over the vehicle and driver of this criminal act. Seemingly
the (consular status!) contractors and spooks have started here what
they have been doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. The joke doing the
rounds in Washington is that they are licensed to shoot anything that
breathes but looks Arab or South Asian.

There have been numerous cases of foreigners roaming around in
vehicles with weapons in all the major cities of Pakistan. Many have
been apprehended, only to be let off - surely with an apology too.
These Contractors (read mercenaries) do not come under the cover of US
Department of State employees in Pakistan. The reason they are free to
do as they please is a question no one is prepared to answer. The
Interior Minister has repeatedly denied the presence of these private
contractors. The Government too has always been, as it is on all
matters of national importance and security, in a total denial mode.

These private contractors have become a backbone of the US policy in
this war. Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, who served as Secretary of State
Colin Powell's Chief of Staff said this about Blackwater's role in
Pakistan: "It wouldn't surprise me because we've outsourced nearly
everything." Today Iraq has 95000 contractors whereas Afghanistan
112,000. In spite of denials, reports suggest the presence of about a
500 in Pakistan. They have rented houses in posh areas of Islamabad,
Peshawar, Lahore, Quetta and Karachi.

Assassination is the focus of the covert, illegal and ugly aspect of
this cruel war. Drone strikes in Pakistan and numerous civilian deaths
in Iraq and Afghanistan are carried out by American Special Operations
forces. In recent years most of this has been outsourced to private
contractors. The bulk of this force is former personnel of Special
Operations Forces. The US government is complicit for having
contracted and assisted these contractors responsible for civilian
deaths.

In 2006, Pakistan succumbed yet again allowing the US Joint Special
Operations Command (JSOC) to operate in Pakistan. The stated goal at
that time was to hunt Osama bin Laden. The understanding was that
Pakistan publicly would deny giving any such permission. The
Washington Post reports that the Obama administration has given the
green light for "things that the previous administration did not." It
has also "let JSOC off the leash.....JSOC has been empowered more
under this administration than any other in recent history. No
question." Frustrated, outsmarted and outdone they have widened the
goal posts in Pakistan.

The Mozang murders are a tragedy that again serves a reminder of where
and how we stand today. It is our conduct as a state and nation that
has pushed us to these lows. Numerous civilian deaths ignored by the
state in FATA which is beyond the state's conscience radar has led to
manned 'drones' roaming the urban centers as well. Without allowing a
witch-hunt, it is imperative the law takes its course; not doing so
will further encourage these contractors with their fatal license.

The deputy ambassador of the Republic of Georgia to the United States,
Gueorgui Makharadze, caused an accident in January 1997 that injured
four people and killed a sixteen year old girl. He was found to have a
blood-alcohol level of 0.15%. The U.S. government asked the Georgian
government to waive his immunity, which they did. Makharadze was tried
and convicted of manslaughter by the U.S. and sentenced to seven to
twenty one years in prison. (Source - Wikipedia).

A waif-like Dr. Afia Siddique was incarcerated for years with male
inmates in Afghanistan. The mind-boggling charge, many believe were
cooked up, was snatching an assault rifle from a marine and firing at
him. After five years, when her inhuman ordeal became public, she was
whisked away to the United States where she was ultimately tried and
sentenced to eighty six years. Her release is termed impossible by our
"American" ambassador in Washington and the US regent here saying US
law will take its course.

Beholden to the US, they probably are right. Laws, rules and
conventions are to be implemented and violated by Uncle Sam alone. The
innocent have to keep on dying because the state continues to pay
homage to the star n stripes. This, after all, is the new world order.

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