Pakistan løslod 24. november Hafiz Saed, manden bag det morderiske angreb på Mumbai i 2008. Det var et slag i ansigtet på både Indien og USA, som havde udlovet en dusør på 10 millioner dollars for Saed. 

Da vicepræsident Mike Pence var på et overraskende besøg i Afghanistan for nylig, sagde han, at tiden var inde for Pakistan til at bestemme sig: Enten terrorister eller USA.

“For too long,” Pence said, “has Pakistan provided safe haven to the Taliban and many terrorist organizations, but those days are over. … President Trump has put Pakistan on notice. As the president said, so I say now: Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with the United States, and Pakistan has much to lose by continuing to harbor criminals and terrorists.”

Samtlige amerikanske præsidenter har besværet sig over, at Pakistan ikke tager et opgør med terroristerne. Men ingen har turdet sætte hårdt mod hårdt. Med sin egen politik beder Pakistan om en reaktion. For nogle uger siden slap de Hafiz Saeed ud, som var hjernen bag angrebet på Mumbai i 2008, til trods for, at USA har udlovet en dusør på 10 millioner dollars for ham.

Det som nok ligger bag er, at Narendra Modis Indien er rykket meget nærmere USA. Indien afstod fra at fordømme flytningen af ambassaden til Jerusalem. Ved at løslade Hafiz Saeed giver Pakistan en «snub», en vink med en vognstang til Indien. Det er risikosport, men for Pakistan er der intet nyt under solen.

Man skal også se dette i sammenhæng med Kashmir, hvor indiske soldater for nylig dræbte den lokale leder af en pakistansk jihadgruppe:

Noor Mohammad Tantray was a commander in the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) group.

Police said they engaged in a fierce gun battle with Tantray.

As the news of his death spread, hundreds of residents came on to the streets shouting anti-India slogans and clashing with police.

Pakistan gir støtte til grupper som med vold forsøker å fravriste India sin del av Kashmir. Men kampen foregår ikke bare i Kashmir, men rettes mot indiske institusjoner:

• Close aide of Ghazi Baba, the JeM commander who masterminded the 2001 suicide attack on the Indian parliament

Indiens geopolitiske betydning samt det forhold, at det står nærmere USA værdimæssigt gør, at USA beder Pakistan bestemme sig. Det er sidste chance:

Financial Times reported in September that “the Trump administration is considering dropping Pakistan as an ally as it examines tough measures to quell more than 20 terrorist groups it says are based in the country.” President Trump needs to follow through on this.

At Osama bin Laden boede nogle kilometer fra Pakistans fremmeste militærakademi, er ikke noget, som er glemt i USA. Amerikanerne sidder også med bevis på, at den pakistanske ledelse vidste, hvor bin Laden var. Carlotta Gall dækkede Afghanistan og Pakistan for New York Times i 12 år. Hun skrev i marts 2014:

[S]oon after the Navy SEAL raid on Bin Laden’s house, a Pakistani official told me that the United States had direct evidence that the ISI chief, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, knew of Bin Laden’s presence in Abbottabad. The information came from a senior United States official, and I guessed that the Americans had intercepted a phone call of Pasha’s or one about him in the days after the raid. ‘He knew of Osama’s whereabouts, yes,’ the Pakistani official told me. The official was surprised to learn this and said the Americans were even more so.

I tillæg kommer korruptionen. Pengene USA bevilger går til luksusforbrug for den pakistansk elite:

Sky News reported in January 2014 that “Pakistani officials have reportedly used a secret counter-terrorism fund to buy wedding gifts, luxury carpets and gold jewelry for relatives of ministers and visiting dignitaries.”

Trump-administrationen har startet en clean-up, en storvask. USA vil ikke længere øse penge ud til lande, som modarbejder amerikanske interesser. Så enkelt er det.

Pence: Trump Has Put Pakistan on Notice