Author: UNI
Publication: Sify News
Date: December 24, 2002
URL: http://headlines.sify.com/1562news3.html?headline=Pakistanis~fear~US~will~target~them~next
There is growing resentment against
the US in Pakistan, with the majority feeling that Islamabad could be the
next target after Iraq.
More than a year after President
Pervez Musharraf joined the US-led coalition against terrorism, Western
and Pakistani observers say suspicion and disenchantment are on the rise
in all sections of Pakistani society and an American war against Iraq is
likely to further harden opinion, a report in the New York Times said today.
The deepest source of resentment
is that Pakistan feels it is not being rewarded for its cooperation in
the war on terrorism and is not trusted because it is a Muslim country.
''Over the last eight or nine months
it's gotten a lot worse and that's what Osama and the people on his side
want to foster,'' one Western diplomat said. ''This is a real danger. This
can get out of hand on a lot of levels.''
The recent disclosure by American
intelligence officials that Pakistan shared nuclear technology with North
Korea is viewed as a first step toward declaring Pakistan the next rogue
state, the report said.
Also, the Bush administration's
diplomatic approach to North Korea and military approach to Iraq is seen
as proof of an American double standard: one for Muslim countries, and
one for others.
Meanwhile, the rewards that the
United States has bestowed on Pakistan since last September go little remarked
and little noticed.
The United States has rescheduled
3 billion dollars in Pakistan's debt, launched a five-year 100 million
dollars aid programme and provided 73 million dollars in equipment and
aid to secure Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.