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US, Pakistan to limit already tense relations

THIS STORY APPEARED IN

January 03, 2012|By Anne Gearan

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan - In what could be the biggest change in a decade in a relationship that has been a mainstay of US military and counterterrorism policy since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the United States and Pakistan are lowering expectations for what the two nations will do together and planning for a period of more limited contact.

The change described by both Pakistani and US officials follows a series of diplomatic crises over the past year that strained an already difficult partnership based around the US goal of stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

For Pakistan, cooperation on that agenda was rewarded with billions in financial aid. The change means less cooperation with Washington and a willingness to swear off some aid that often made Pakistan feel too dependent, and too pushed around.

For the United States, scaling down an expensive military and economic program that has not met expectations could come at the cost of less Pakistani help in ending the war in next-door Afghanistan.

Both US and Pakistani officials said the November killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers in a NATO air strike 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 incident an unprovoked attack.

A senior Obama administration official conceded that the deaths made every aspect of US cooperation with Pakistan more difficult and that the distance Pakistan has imposed may continue indefinitely.