The United States has long been criticized for disregarding the sovereign rights of Pakistan and other countries in launching drone attacks and military operations. Now, Pakistan has responded with a reported lengthy sentencing of the Pakistani doctor, Shakil Afridi, who helped track down Osama Bin Laden as guilty of “high treason.”
The “trial” and sentencing of the doctor is a farce and injustice. He was tried under the Frontier Crimes Regulations, or FCR. It denied him access to counsel and basic due process. American officials however appear doubly hypocritical in criticizing the lack of due process when the Bush Administration stripped detainees of the same rights and the Obama Administration still holds people at Gitmo without true legal process (as well as claiming the right to kill U.S. citizens without any trial or formal charge).
These sentences are handed down by a Khyber government official in consultation with a “council of government elders.” Of course, that is basically the same process described by the Obama Administration for the death panel in targeting U.S. citizens for assassination — except that the Age Discrimination Act limits the use of age in selecting government officials.
Source: BBC
Seems like so much out of Pakistan is a sham. When I heard UBL was found within blocks of a prestigeous military academy in Pak, I knew who our true enemy was. Soldiers and Marines that I have spoken with who serverd in Afghanistan all tell me Pakistan is more of a problem than an ally.
This so called trial, another sham. But, I’ll bet the US does nothing to rescue this Doctor and lets him become another Scapegoat of the Empire in the Breaker Morant sense.
I remember the civilian in Iraq who witnessed US POW Private Jessica Lyncy in Hospital with the Iraqi military, Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaif, and how he was very helpful in her rescue. For this, he was granted Asylum in the US and eventually secured a reward and settlement. While to me this was Honorable, why can’t the Doctor be given such treatment. Perhaps maybe Ross Perot can call up another Bull Simons and get the guy out.
“Funny how other nations don’t like being told our covert operations should take precedence over their sovereignty.” — Marcy Wheeler at emptywheel
Bette Noir,
As Russian President Vladimir Putin said not long ago: “The United States doesn’t want allies. It wants vassals.” Short and to the point.
Arthur,
Before 9/11/2001. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2011/09/20119115334167663.html
Sorry but that is an outright lie. He also lies about the US relations with the Taliban. First off, the oil and gas companies wined and dined their reps in Houston to get them interested in an oil pipeline through their territory. Then the US gave the Taliban about $50 million for having destroyed so much opium In fact, this is one of the things I cuss W Bush about.
The Taliban put so many conditions on turining him over that any so called trial would be a farce since infidels may not be heard in an Islamic court. So to say that they were willing to comply with the UN is an outright lie. Which makes the excellent point that the UN would NOT have sanctioned US military action if the Taliban had made ANY good faith effort to comply with UN demands…
Frankly, that would be the difference between treason and high treason, you know? Also, at the very least, this once again means that they had no interest in having him killed or captured by us.
We need to simply take all the people who help us in the Middle East and give them sanctuary in the US. All of them, from interpreters to doctors.
Jude said: “Time to bomb Pakistan.”
I thinks it’s time to leave Pakistan to its own devices. We’ve given it over $8 billion in the past decade, but now we should pay tariffs to use its roads? I think the more we fight in Pakistan or Iraq, the more enemies we create. Bring our troops home, give the next $8 billion to our schools, and let Pakistan have a bake sale to raise money for defense against India.
In the sense that this was and anti-imperialism decision, the following story is not off topic:
(Global Research).
how many times did they waterboard him before sentencing? or is that just us.
no wait, we waterboard and indefinitely detain.
so much for the high ground on how other countries treat their citizens.
Frankly,
Good points.
“If they just happened to kill some wanted guy they have been after it would not mean the US necessarily was hiding him.”
OMG. So when Osama bin Laden was hiding in Afghanistan, we could have just killed him rather than invade the country?
I still think it would have been a lot easier if we had just accepted bin Laden when the Afghanistan government offered to turn him over.
Or if the CIA station chief had taken along some of his comrades when he visited bin Laden in the hospital when bin Laden was getting dialysis and was on the most wanted list. Would that have been kidnapping? CIA wouldn’t have done that, of course.
bettykath. The Taliban government NEVER offered to turn Bin Laden over at any time which is why the UN gave sanction to the mlitary action by the US and others. Had they done so, the UN would not have acted as they did.
Frankly:
Terrific points.
Jude, not necessarily. If you conspired with the ISS and Pakistan Army to help them launch a military raid into Nebraska without the foreknowledge of the US I think that would be actionable. If they just happened to kill some wanted guy they have been after it would not mean the US necessarily was hiding him. Certainly you and I were not despite having the bombs fall on us.
To say nothing of the benefit of dropping even more bombs on even more countries. The results of 10 years of that track “has developed not necessarily to [our] advantage”
So, if he is guilty of “high treason”, it stands to reason that the government was hiding OBL… That would be the simple implication here.
Time to bomb Pakistan.
Relationships with unstable people are characterized by frequent fits of emotion and tenuous durability. That truth applies as well to relationships with unstable governments. The prosecution of Dr. Afridi should have been, and perhaps was, anticipated because the government of Pakistan serves many masters. However, I do not doubt that Dr. Afridi’s quiet release can be accomplished through diplomatic negotiations, by which I mean the payment of appropriate sums of money to appropriate numbers of people in appropriate government ministries.
Bette Noir,
your question is a good one. We are allies because we need the Pakistani’s cooperation in bombing the crap out of their neighbors.
Any response from the US government? Do they care or is this just another person to be used and thrown away? The administration should be outraged and then see that this travesty is exactly what they have been doing to others whose countrymen also feel outrage.
The relations between the US and Pakistan has hit a low with the many civilian deaths due to indiscriminate drone attacks on Pakistanis.
Remind me again– Pakistan is our ally, right?
“The Pakistani problem” is the propaganda phrase the imperialists use to explain the reaction to a certain military empire killing civilians with drones in a far away “sovereign nation.”
I am surprised that the case of the 5 Cuban agents has not been mentioned in this. Cuba sent 5 secret agents to the US to spy on the Cuban exile terrorists who had been responsible for bombing a Cuban airliner out of the sky and other assorted criminal acts against Cuba. The US has refused to act against the Cuban exile terrorists, so they had no choice, but to do something on their own to stop the attacks.
Their case is almost exactly the same, except for the fact that the doctor was a citizen of his country, while the Cuban five are not citizens of the US. It is rather difficult for me to see how they could be convicted of espionage since their targets were not the US government, nor US companies, but simply engaged in enforcing international law and acting in self defense. I guess that terrorism is GOOD if it is directed against others, and only bad when it blowsback on us.
The German American Bund advocated that we as Americans, our government, should stand tall with Hitler because he was opposed to the Communists within Germany. Now our government stands tall with the nazi government in Pakistan. We did a lot for the blind dissident in China–they guy who is now in some university in New York. Perhaps we can do something for the guy who helped find the 9/11 mastermind.