Whatever the Pakistani government's secret collusion with the U.S. on drone strikes, it doesn't mind screwing with American officials and contractors stationed there. A WikiLeaked diplomatic cable from February 2010 cites repeated instances of Pakistani security personnel seizing U.S. diplomats' cars, shutting down counterterrorism programs and "sabotaging" deals with their security contractors.
Despite $400 million in U.S. cash for Islamabad's counterinsurgency efforts, local Pakistani security officials shut down an "Anti-Terrorism Assistance" training program at Pakistan's Sihala Police Academy. Though the cable doesn't mention it, rumors abounded at Sihala that the U.S. used the police academy to spy on a nearby nuclear installation. Distrust of the U.S. runs deep enough to delay the importation of "equipment for Pakistani law enforcement agencies," reads Ambassador Anne Patterson's February 19, 2010 briefing for an impending visit from FBI Director Robert Mueller.
Patterson's staff face more passive-aggressive obstacles from their Pakistani hosts. Roadblocks impede the expansion of the embassy in Islamabad. Not only does Pakistan slow-roll U.S. diplomats' visa applications, but the security forces delay "import permits for armored vehicles" in a city that extremists enjoy bombing. It's not much better when diplomats manage to get out on the roads. Pakistani officials are known for "harassing Embassy personnel by stopping and detaining Embassy vehicles."
And while some of that harassment abates after diplomats register their protests, Patterson writes, "we expect we will have to continue to push back against such impediments for the foreseeable future."
At least one instance of what Patterson cites as harassment put diplomats' lives at risk. The Pakistanis are "sabotaging our contract with DynCorp International to provide enhanced protective support for Consulate General Peshawar personnel," she writes. That appears to be a reference to a minor scandal in September 2009, when Pakistani police raided a DynCorp subcontractor, Inter-Risk, and turned up dozens of illicit guns.
The raid set up a furor of Pakistani media speculation that DynCorp was secretly taking action against terrorist targets in Peshawar through Inter-Risk. Both the company and State deny that, saying instead that insurgent violence in the city requires a heavily armed force to protect its diplomats. Patterson urged the Interior Ministry in March 2009 to issue State's bodyguards special permits for high-caliber weapons, the Washington Times reported, as the violence was "harming our ability to administer and expand the programs we would like to expand."
Even after the Inter-Link raid, State stood by DynCorp, and the company retains its contract in Pakistan. A DynCorp spokeswoman declined to comment on whether Pakistan attempted any other "sabotage" of its contract.
Patterson's brief to Mueller is one of a number of cables WikiLeaks exposed revealing the persistent chasm of trust between the U.S. and Pakistan, not just on mutual efforts against terrorists, but on Pakistan's nuclear program, its human-rights abuses, and many other issues. That trust gap persists despite a recent five-year, $7.5 billion U.S. civilian aid package to Pakistan and a brand-new $2 billion military-aid package.
The U.S. ambassador attributes all that to distrust in the Pakistani military and intelligence services about "U.S. intentions and objectives" in the region, especially Washington's perceived favoritism toward India. Indeed, an earlier WikiLeaks document dump implicated elements within the Pakistani security sector as providing aid and comfort to insurgents and terrorists. And U.S. foreign-service officers lingering at Islamabad's police checkpoints while their cars get impounded have to bear that burden.
Photo: Pakistan's Inter Services Public Relations
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