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.
The real wikileaks tamasha is now on Pak tv channels. All wikileak all the time, and yet no real news in them anywhere. Gossipistan is what we are.
When you drink lot of Wikis, you ought to take a leak.
Excellent analysis. It is funny, sad and pathetic at the same time to watch the media and the public spinning themselves into webs of nothingness around these silly ‘revelations’ that are not revelations at all!
Looks like the train of objectivity has left town in Pakland. Anyone who discounts the importance of these documents must not be serious. We have lost the art of dissecting information. This is a treasure chest of information, that should be enough to open our eyes. If we chose to keep them shut, then the fault lies with us.
In trying to blame the messenger, we have lost track of the message. Blame Assange and cook up the next conspiracy theory as to why these documents were leaked. Perhaps you are not seeing the reaction in world capitals. Trying to come up with explanations (for the leaks) totally misses the point.
The timing of the release of these documents may be intended to capture news cycle headlines in the most spectacular possible manner, while embarrassing U.S. and, Afghanistan and Pakistani officials as well. Every effected nation of these revelations must understand that US has adopted the policy of hurting itself first to deceive others from its own attempt to inflict compound diplomatic and political losses to the other countries. Publishing secret information by the US is decided only after weighing the risks and its own interest. It’s very strange such a huge cache of information can be leaked to the media so conveniently. Time-frame of the these leaks was between 2004-2009 before the whole Pak Afghan Policy was laid down by the new administration in the White House and prior to the US-PAK Strategic dialogues in which Gen. Ashfaq Parvaiz Keyani himself gave out a long presentation winning many admirers within the US administration. 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? How can this be a fresh and news story in Pakistan1s perspective- based on a ‘leak’?