Pakistan Ledger| Intellibriefs | Defense Analysis| پا کستان لیجر| پاکستاني کھاتا | -ميرا پيغام پيارے ھموطنوں کے نام.صرف ھبلوطن پاکستانی آنکھوں کے ليے— یا رب دل مسلم کو وہ زندا تمنا دے جو قلب کو گرما دے جو روح کو تڑپا دے

General Petraeus doesn’t get it. A few additional pornographic pictures do not increase Anti-Americanism, hiding the facts, protecting the rapists, transferring known brutes to Afghanistan, issueing Anti-Paksitan satements and perpetuating the torutre does. Reversing Anti-Americanism in South Asia: Building bridges with Pakistan

General Petraeus, the world already knows what’s in the pictures.

Pakistanis are not fickle. They know what is going on around the world. Each and every word that the Obama Administration utters is closely monitored on more than 80 TV channels. Pakistan may be one of the few countries in the world, possible the only one which has more TV news channels than TV entertianment channels. Pakistanis are news junkies. They are thoughful and sophisticated. They know who their enemies are. Childish lectures on where they shoould point their guns at increases Anti-Americanism. Selective Amnesia of Americans: Pakistan is the most mistreated friend in the world

If you want to stop Anti-Americanism from growing stop the drone bombings.

General David Petraeus has recently filed papers in the local US court claiming that Anti-Americanism in Pakistan is on the rise and would rise dramatically if the pictures of prisoner abuse are released. The exact opposite is true. First there is no relationship between pictures of prisoner abuse and the drones. Anti-Americanism increases in Pakistan every time a drone comes in fires hellfire missiles, usually on innocent civilians. Contrary to US claims, most Pakistanis do not believe the US claims that the Reapers kill terrorists. Most Pakistanis believe that the drone create terrorists, in effect destabilize Pakistan, and reduce the effectiveness and credibility of the PPPP government. All this is counterproductive.

If you want to stop Anti-Americanism from growing punish the rapists.

May 29 (Bloomberg) — Public support for the U.S. is declining in Pakistan because of military strikes there that the U.S. conducts from Afghanistan, according to the top American commander in the Middle East.

“Most polling data reflects” an increase in anti-U.S. sentiment, General David Petraeus said, without identifying the source of the polling.

Pakistanis are angered by “cross-border operations and reported drone strikes” that they believe “cause unacceptable civilian casualties,” Petraeus wrote in court papers supporting President Barack Obama’s decision not to release photographs showing the abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Releasing images “depicting, or that could be construed as depicting, U.S. forces abusing detainees who would likely be depicted as ‘fellow Muslims’ would undermine” the Pakistani government’s efforts to bolster support for the U.S., which is helping Pakistan fight al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in its ungoverned northwest provinces along the Afghan border, he said. Petraeus Warns of Declining Public Support in Pakistan for U.S. By Tony Capaccio. To contact the reporters on this story: Tony Capaccio in Washington at acapaccio@bloomberg.net.

Bombing border areas pushed insurgents to safer hideouts. Bombing Pakistan created new cadres of insurgents spelling failure for NATO. Today 75% of Afghan countryside is hands of anti-occupation forces Bad US policy & drone attacks on Pakistan fueled Afghan insurgency Rand report: End GWOT. Defeat Al-Qaeda with police & Dollars

The world has seen enough Abu Ghraib pictures. A few more explicit ones will not bring about a sea change in the image of the US. What would change the image of America? Despite the Bush Administration, the US still has tremendous credibility of a nation of laws. Those laws enshrined in the US constitution have to be followed. If they are executed, the world will applaud and write off the excesses of the Bush administration as an aberration. If the Obama Administration pursued an “Open Kimono policy” of complete transparency and allowed the rule of law to convict the perpetrators of illegal acts, the Pakistanis and the Iraqis will have more respect for America.

If General Petraeus wants to reduce Anti-Americanism in Pakistan, he has to win the hearts and minds of the Pakistanis. He has to immediately stop the drone bombing, and he has to request Congress to push through a Marshall Plan for Pakistan. He has to stop the members of his army and administration from issuing inane statements against the state of Pakistan and the Pakistani nuclear weapons. If  the Obama Administration wants to convince the Pakistanis that the US is on their side, he has to punish those who routinely issue Anti-Pakistan statements. If Washington wants Pakistan as any ally, it must treat it like an ally. Respecting Pakistan, Pakistanis, and Pakistani defense needs would go a long way in eliminating Anti-Americanism in Pakistan.

Justifying the Banality of a brutal Occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan: The Thinktanks attempt to complete the circle of complicity between a sycophantic press, and a non-inquisitive servile public. The nation is forced to accept the only argument that it is being repeatedly inundated with

General Petraues, if you want to reverse Anti-Americanism, stop the civilian deaths, stpp berating Pakistan’s nuclear program and halt the wars.

The U.S. Justice Department yesterday asked the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York to reverse its order that the photos be released. Petraeus’s statement was part of the department’s filing.

“Anti-U.S. sentiment has already been increasing in Pakistan” andreleasing the photos would only accelerate this trend, Petraeus said.

The percentage of Pakistanis who felt the U.S. presence posed a threat to Pakistan increased in October 2008 to 54 percent from 45 percent in June 2008, Petraeus said.

“It may be higher today and will certainly increase if new detainee abuse photos are released,” he said. “While other polling data show minor improvements in U.S.-Pakistan relations, 63 percent of Pakistanis still oppose cooperating with U.S. counter-terror operations.”Petraeus Warns of Declining Public Support in Pakistan for U.S. By Tony Capaccio. To contact the reporters on this story: Tony Capaccio in Washington at acapaccio@bloomberg.net.

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Pakistan & drones

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