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In Pakistan, pro-American sentiment is rare
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| Contributor | ArmyDem |
| Last Edited | ArmyDem Jun 24, 2011 05:15am |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Newspaper - Washington Post |
| News Date | Thursday, June 23, 2011 11:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | By Griff Witte, Published: June 23
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Ali Khan Afridi is a wanted man.
Militants come to his house in this frontier city and menace his family. Men claiming to be from Pakistan’s intelligence services call at 2 a.m., and tell him to watch his back.
Afridi accepts all this as the price of his radical views: In a country where the vast majority of people believe the United States is an enemy, Afridi is unabashedly pro-American.
“I believe that America is the only power that can defeat these monsters, these terrorists,” Afridi said. “And that means my life is in permanent danger.”
The United States and Pakistan have been allies for decades, but it has rarely been easy to be pro-American here. Now, following last month’s killing by U.S. Navy SEALs of Osama bin Laden, speaking out on behalf of the United States requires a degree of boldness that verges on a death wish.
While bin Laden was held in low regard by most Pakistanis and there have been few public displays of anger at his passing, the impact on attitudes toward the United States has been profound. Critics of Pakistani ties with Washington are ascendant on the streets, in the media and, crucially, at Pakistan’s military headquarters in Rawalpindi. Backers of the relationship, the few who remain, have been cowed into silence or are reconsidering their stands. |
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