ap on pak-us ties: pak bravado and yank annoyance

jan 2nd, 2012 CE

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From:

http://hosted2.ap.org/txdam/e109e277e48c4e219e07a1d4710177b3/Article_2012-01-02-US-Pakistan-US/id-3734a5528d454a6db26974bc2093d4ae 

Pakistan, US Assume Less Cooperation

By AP / ANNE GEARAN and KATHY GANNON

(RAWALPINDI, Pakistan) — Fatigued by a series of diplomatic crises over the past year, the United States and Pakistan are redefining their troubled relationship, stepping back from the assumption that common goals and shared interests can trump mutual suspicion.

For Pakistan that means less cooperation with Washington and willingness, and in some cases eagerness, to swear off some of the American financial aid that often made Pakistan feel too dependent, and too pushed-around.

For the United States it means lower expectations in several areas, including the crucial question of Pakistani help in ending the war in next-door Afghanistan.

Overall it could be the biggest change in a decade in a relationship that has been a mainstay of U.S. military and counterterrorism policy since the 9/11 terror attacks.

Both U.S. and Pakistani officials said the November killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers in a NATO airstrike and Washington's refusal to outright apologize for the deaths has been a game changer in a relationship characterized by mistrust and mutual acrimony.

In the United States, civilian and military officials have called the friendly fire incident a tragedy caused by mistakes on both sides, but insist that Pakistan fired first. Pakistan denies that and has called the airstrike an unprovoked attack.

Pakistan's loud and angry reaction has, if anything, hardened attitudes in Congress and elsewhere that Pakistan is untrustworthy or ungrateful.

A senior Obama administration official conceded that the deaths made every aspect of U.S. cooperation with Pakistan more difficult, and that the distance Pakistan has imposed may continue indefinitely. The official, like most others interviewed for this story, spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of ongoing discussions.

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