WASHINGTON – Richard Olson, former US Ambassador to Pakistan, said that President Donald Trump administration’s attempt at humiliating and penalizing Pakistan is unlikely to yield results.
In his opinion piece published in New York Times on Tuesday, Olson said: “Pakistan has greater leverage over us [America] than many imagine”.
His comments follow Trump’s fresh tirade against Pakistan in which he accused Pakistan of giving nothing but lies and deceit, thinking US leaders to be fools.
Trump tweeted as “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools”.
The US accusations ended up at withholding military aid to Pakistan, including coalition support funding that could affect $1.3 billion annual aid.
The former ambassador said that measures like blocking aid and other would be emotionally satisfying, adding that the war of US in Afghanistan against terrorists have been “dependent on transit through and especially overflight of Pakistani territory”. He said that alternative routes – Iran and Central Asia – for military supply are not good options.
Olson says, “Enough said. Without Pakistani cooperation, our army in Afghanistan risks becoming a beached whale”.
“And as United States aid levels have diminished — reflecting bipartisan unhappiness with Pakistani policy — aid from the Chinese has increased. China has invested around $62 billion in Pakistani infrastructure under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, an element of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative,” he said.
“Pakistan, like most countries, reacts very badly to public attempts to force its hand. It is likely to respond by showing how it can truly undercut our position in Afghanistan”.
Throwing weight behind Pakistan’s affirmation of settling the Afghan issue through negotiations, Olson said: “The United States can address Afghanistan only with a political initiative”.
He said that The Trump administration has publicly stated that it sees the Afghan issue ending only through peace talks, adding, “It is difficult to understand why no such diplomatic initiative had been started”.
