No answer to American queries

[VCheng]

Even that is not really 'glamorous' - I.e. the US is not building a large dam, but upgrading generation capacity at existing facilities. I'm not saying it isn't important and necessary work, but that the 'optics' aren't really there. Contrast the example you gave with, for example, the US leading construction of the Basha dam, or funding the construction of a motorway between Kabul and Peshawar or funding and constructing state of the art hospitals, perhaps in conjunction with Pakistani American physicians or Pakistani philanthropists on the management boards.

Until the Kashmir issue is settled, there will be no large scale international participation in development projects like dams in the disputed territories.

I disagree here. It isn't the anti-US rhetoric in Pakistan that makes passage of initiatives useful to Pakistan difficult in Congress, rather it is the anti-Pakistan rhetoric spewed by the US media (in collaboration with carefully leaked anti-Pakistan propaganda from the US Establishment) that has made passage of initiatives in Congress difficult.

It won't matter if a majority of Pakistanis start belting out non-stop sycophantic praise for the US starting today, so long as the anti-Pakistan vitriol in the US media, creating and strengthening prejudice against both the country and people, sourced from the US Establishment, continues non-stop.

There is a lot of discussion about the anti-US sentiment and propaganda in the Pakistani media, but almost none about the similarly poisonous anti-Pakistan propaganda in the US and Western media.

While the problem with media rhetoric may be on both sides, the bashing of the other side is much more of a power center play in Pakistan than USA, specially playing to their domestic audience, because of the basic difference in that USA follows its national interests, but the power centers in Pakistan put their own interests before national ones. They want the money to be given to them rather than put to good use, the outrage over the K-L Bill being a prime example.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Until the Kashmir issue is settled, there will be no large scale international participation in development projects like dams in the disputed territories.

Basha dam was just an example - there are various other major projects that the US could invest in that are not in Azad Kashmir/GB - the point being that the current US Aid strategy (while well intentioned and workable in a less corrupt government environment) has little tangible and visible results that would allow for positive PR.

While the problem with media rhetoric may be on both sides, the bashing of the other side is much more of a power center play in Pakistan than USA, specially playing to their domestic audience, because of the basic difference in that USA follows its national interests, but the power centers in Pakistan put their own interests before national ones. They want the money to be given to them rather than put to good use, the outrage over the K-L Bill being a prime example.

Whether or not the anti-US rhetoric and its promotion is a 'power center play' has little bearing on the anti-Pakistan propaganda in the US media. It is this unabated anti-Pakistan propaganda that limits public support (and therefore US Congressional support) for US funded initiatives that could be helpful to Pakistan.

 

[VCheng]

Basha dam was just an example - there are various other major projects that the US could invest in that are not in Azad Kashmir/GB - the point being that the current US Aid strategy (while well intentioned and workable in a less corrupt government environment) has little tangible and visible results that would allow for positive PR.

Whether or not the anti-US rhetoric and its promotion is a 'power center play' has little bearing on the anti-Pakistan propaganda in the US media. It is this unabated anti-Pakistan propaganda that limits public support (and therefore US Congressional support) for US funded initiatives that could be helpful to Pakistan.

I would love to see your suggested projects that USA could realistically for added PR value. And the problem that you perceive with the US media arises from what actually happens in Pakistan, there can be no denying those facts either.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

I would love to see your suggested projects that USA could realistically for added PR value. And the problem that you perceive with the US media arises from what actually happens in Pakistan, there can be no denying those facts either.

Of course there are real problems that Pakistan deserves to be criticized for, but some of the really high profile media propaganda revolves around reporting such as 'OBL was supported by the Pakistani State', despite repeated official declarations by the US administration that they have no evidence to support said claim. At this point the continued insistence by many US commentators/analysts/journalists that 'Pakistan had to have known about OBL' borders on a conspiracy theory. This one unsubstantiated claim alone has done far more damage to Pakistan than years of anti-US vitriol in the Pakistani media could have.

 

[VCheng]

Of course there are real problems that Pakistan deserves to be criticized for, but some of the really high profile media propaganda revolves around reporting such as 'OBL was supported by the Pakistani State', despite repeated official declarations by the US administration that they have no evidence to support said claim. At this point the continued insistence by many US commentators/analysts/journalists that 'Pakistan had to have known about OBL' borders on a conspiracy theory. This one unsubstantiated claim alone has done far more damage to Pakistan than years of anti-US vitriol in the Pakistani media could have.

And yet, substantial aid continues to flow to Pakistan despite the few high profile incidents that everybody mentions, indicating that USA can surely look beyond them and see how it can continue to work with Pakistan. Is the response from the Pakistani side as mature or not?

 

[pakdefender]

The OP seems to suggest that America is Holy Cow and even justified criticism should not be done