US soldiers' deaths expose deep US-Pakistani links
February 4, 2010 - 11:00 am EST
The February 3 killing of three American soldiers in a Taliban suicide attack in Temargara, Lower Dir in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province has lifted the veil of secrecy from direct US military involvement in Pakistan. The Pakistani authorities had attempted to keep such dealings quiet for fear of a public backlash that is already seething with anger over American gangsterism in the country.
The soldiers were part of a contingent of 80 Special Forces Operation team that ostensibly trains Pakistan’s paramilitary Frontier Corps in counter-insurgency techniques, including intelligence gathering and development assistance. In reality, the Americans indulge in numerous nefarious activities in Pakistan, especially in the tribal area that has aroused ire of the local population.
Disguised in local dress, wearing the traditional shalwar and kameez (baggy trousers and long tunic worn by Pakistanis) and growing beards, the Americans are indistinguishable from the local Pathans (Pashtuns) in this part of Pakistan. Given the Pashtuns' fair complexion and brown hair, the Americans easily dissolve into the local population. Some have even learned the local language, Pashtu, thereby making it virtually impossible for the locals to identify the foreigners easily.
American Special Forces have operated in this area for more than 18 months. Their small number in Pakistan, however, has prevented public anger from boiling over to a point where the Americans would be attacked directly but it was only a matter of time before their presence was noticed and retaliatory action taken against them.
While American officials have lied in public about the presence of US troops in Pakistan, the most recent of which was Richard Holbrooke's statement last July in Islamabad, the people have a better sense of the tight relationship between Islamabad and Washington, especially their militaries.
The Central Intelligence Agency agents as well as Blackwater mercenaries are also crawling all over Pakistan. Media sources in Pakistan have reported that 3,000 Blackwater mercenaries are operting in the country. They have indulged in gruesome crimes against innocent people.
“People are going to be very suspicious,” said Khalid Aziz, a former chief secretary of the North West Frontier Province, who is now involved in American assistance projects elsewhere. “There is going to be big blowback in the media.”
There is likely to be an even bigger blowback from an already irate Pakistani public at such revelations.
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