Adil Najam
Flicking through Pakistani TV channels I note that all of Pakistan’s mediadom seems to be waiting for imminent release of new documents on WikiLeaks, reportedly including communication from US officials on Pakistan, Pakistanis, Pakistani politicians, and Pakistani agencies and officials.
News junkie that I am, I must confess that I, too, am waiting for Wikileaks. But I am not really sure ‘what’ I am waiting for – or anticipating to hear – from Wikileaks. Nor, do I think, does anyone else. At least any Pakistani. Maybe that is what makes the entire episode so enticing. But it also shows just how messed up US-Pakistan relations really are today.
Amidst all the talk about how dangerous the leaks might be and how they might spoil relations between the US and its supposed ‘allies,’ I wonder exactly what we might find from the leaked documents that would really ‘surprise’ any Pakistani leader, or Pakistani journalist, or any Pakistani for that matter?
Would we, for example, learn that US officials have no trust in or respect for any Pakistani leader, or for Pakistanis, or for Pakistan? And if we did, would that really be a surprise or ‘news’ for anyone in Pakistan or in the US?
Or, maybe, the leaked documents will tell us that the US has continued and plans to continue an illegal, immoral and ineffective campaign of drone attacks into the territory of one of its closest ‘allies’? That despite their apparent protestations the Pakistan government has remained cognizant but acted ignorant of this campaign? That these attacks have consumed more civilian life than military targets, increased anti-Americanism in Pakistan? And if they did, would that be a surprise for anyone who has watched TV news or opened a Pakistani newspaper at anytime in the last year?
Maybe they will reveal that the amount of contempt that Pakistani institutions and officials have for the US is matched only by the contempt that US institutions and officials have for Pakistan? Or that the Pakistan’s favorite pundit sport of ‘blame it on America’ is no different from America’s favorite pundit sport of ‘blame it on Pakistan’? And if it does, who, pray tell me, is supposed to be surprised by that?
Of course, I do realize that the entire point of a ‘surprise’ is that it cannot be anticipated. That, after all, is the point of calling it a surprise. Indeed, there will be surprises. More than that there will be validation of that which we already believed. And most of all there will be details. All of these will keep the news wheels grinding – in their different styles and rhythms, but with equal but inconsequential fervor – in both Pakistan and USA.
But the real and most important revelation that these particular Wikileaks could make about US-Pakistan relations has already come out in the run-up frenzy to the leaks: The US-Pakistan relationship is at such a low point in both USA and in Pakistan that nothing – well, maybe ‘nearly’ nothing – can make the trust deficit too much worse than it already is.
Too much hype and nothing there!
No, I do not see any conspiracy here at all.
But certainly there is the possibility of incompetence.
What you have here is reports by third tier operatives that contain their opinions. That is all. These are also a bunch who have not been proven very successful or intelligent in any of their operations recently. So, it is totally possible that the ‘leaked’ opinions are not just opinions but bad opinions based on bad or made-up facts.
So, lets not start treating them as if they are necessarily facts.
Wikileak or not, the basic principles of sanity are not suspended. I would not necessarily believe anything here, good or bad, unless it can be triangulated and coraborrated somehow.
@watan aziz
I’m dealing with reality, what fantasy world do you live in.
@haroon
Are you joking. Are you telling me this whole WikiLeaks nonsense is some kind of conspiracy? What does the United States hope to gain from this?
And then Niraj woke up.
He was embarrassed to find the photo magazine flopped on the floor. It slipped from his hands when he fell asleep. Quickly, he looked around to see if anyone saw it laying there and open where he was looking at pictures. Unsure, he hurriedly put it away.
He promised himself, he will be careful with these kind of magazines the next time. Admittedly, these kind of magazines give me much delight but they also brought out guilt in him.
And yet, they give him all sorts of fantasies to work with.
But he knew, he will be back to them!
He cannot help it.
Stay tuned for the next episode of ‘Niraj with a magazine’!
I find all the fuss being made about this a little funny. We do not know who said these things and we believe them because they are ‘leaked’ – so they must be true!
If the same America guy had said the same thing in front of us, even taken an oath on it, we would not have believed it because he was American!