US woes, friends or foes? - Hindustan Times

Pakistan's relations with the United States reached a new low this month after Washington accused the Inter-Services Intelligence, and by inference the Pakistani military, of supporting the Haqqani network of attacking the US embassy in Kabul and NATO targets in Afghanistan. Bickering and worse is not uncommon between the two. The question is whether it's different this time and what this might mean for a relationship that has been the bane of India's security establishment for decades.

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Washington has expressed reservations about Pakistan's role in the war on terror before. This time, says Pakistani analyst Saleem Safi, "They have not left any doubt that they are accusing the ISI of duplicity and for the deaths of Americans in Afghanistan." This is much more serious, he argues, not only for US-Pakistan relations but also for relations between the civilian and military leadership within Pakistan. US and South Asian analysts say this was a conflict waiting to happen. Pakistan and the US have different objectives in Afghanistan. Islamabad wants a pro-Pakistani regime, defined as Taliban rule, in Kabul. The US wants one hostile to al Qaeda and terrorism, preferably dedicated to making a normal country out of Afghanistan. Pakistans allies in this goal are exactly those militant groups that the US distrusts the most: the Haqqani network, Mullah Omar and the Quetta Shura.

US woes, friends or foes? - Hindustan Times