Raymond Davis Case: Developing Story
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Seriously, I don't think anything can restore the US's honor after its history in the last decade.
Pakistan is contemplating to exchange Dr. afia with davis
Even if it is possible, I don't want Dr Afia back, she is of no value to Pakistan, and while she might not have killed anyone; I believe she is a hardline extremist who has the support of the extremist elements in Pakistan. She got married to KSM's cousin for heaven's sake. Besides sentimental value, Pakistan has no value in taking her back even if they get the chance. While I believe her case in the Manhattan court might not have been fair, she was definitely involved in some suspicious activities here, and both her and her sister are pretty shady characters. On the other hand, I honestly believe Raymond Davis is of some serious value to Pakistan, with the kind of secret information he possessed, along with his confidential job description and the blind insistence of the US authorities to release him unconditionally.
Even if it is possible, I don't want Dr Afia back, she is of no value to Pakistan, and while she might not have killed anyone; I believe she is a hardline extremist who has the support of the extremist elements in Pakistan. She got married to KSM's cousin for heaven's sake. Besides sentimental value, Pakistan has no value in taking her back even if they get the chance. While I believe her case in the Manhattan court might not have been fair, she was definitely involved in some suspicious activities here, and both her and her sister are pretty shady characters. On the other hand, I honestly believe Raymond Davis is of some serious value to Pakistan, with the kind of secret information he possessed, along with his confidential job description and the blind insistence of the US authorities to release him unconditionally.
Dance
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Imran Khan warns rulers not to release Raymond Davis
SIALKOT / ISLAMABAD: The chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, on Tuesday said that his party will not allow rulers to hand over Raymond Davis, a US consular employee held over the killing of two Pakistanis, to the US.
Imran said this while talking to a delegation of PTI Sialkot which called on him at his Lahore office.
He said that his party will soon stage an anti-US long march in the country as a protest against the murders.
Imran also said that corrupt politicians will flee the country in a revolution that will shake the conscience of the masses soon, saying that the oppressed people of Pakistan are united over the real issues and desperate to avenge their frustration.
Those observed to be advocating foreign influence or pressure through the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other agencies have no contribution to make for the resolution of real issues like innocent killings through drone attacks, he said.
He termed the aid given to the government as a virus and said that it was not needed as it only helps the corrupt leaders who pocket it to stay in power while the masses are left to bear the burden of the war in the north.
Jamaat-e Islami issues warning over US prisoner
The Jamaat-e Islami (JI) accused the United States today of riding roughshod in the case of Raymond Davis and said it would hold protests if he is freed.
The party accused the United States of exerting “unprincipled and unlawful” pressure on Pakistan.
“Why is America hell bent on trampling on Pakistani law and its judicial system? We will forcefully protest if he is released without a court order,” Jamaat-e-Islami deputy chief Liaquat Baluch told Reuters.
Jamaat-e-Islami and other religious parties don’t win many votes in elections but are capable of organising large protests often seize on sensitive issues concerning the United States.
Earlier, the Pakistani Taliban and Jamaat-ud-Dawa also issued similar statements.
Imran Khan warns rulers not to release Raymond Davis – The Express Tribune
SIALKOT / ISLAMABAD: The chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, on Tuesday said that his party will not allow rulers to hand over Raymond Davis, a US consular employee held over the killing of two Pakistanis, to the US.
Imran said this while talking to a delegation of PTI Sialkot which called on him at his Lahore office.
He said that his party will soon stage an anti-US long march in the country as a protest against the murders.
Imran also said that corrupt politicians will flee the country in a revolution that will shake the conscience of the masses soon, saying that the oppressed people of Pakistan are united over the real issues and desperate to avenge their frustration.
Those observed to be advocating foreign influence or pressure through the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other agencies have no contribution to make for the resolution of real issues like innocent killings through drone attacks, he said.
He termed the aid given to the government as a virus and said that it was not needed as it only helps the corrupt leaders who pocket it to stay in power while the masses are left to bear the burden of the war in the north.
Jamaat-e Islami issues warning over US prisoner
The Jamaat-e Islami (JI) accused the United States today of riding roughshod in the case of Raymond Davis and said it would hold protests if he is freed.
The party accused the United States of exerting “unprincipled and unlawful” pressure on Pakistan.
“Why is America hell bent on trampling on Pakistani law and its judicial system? We will forcefully protest if he is released without a court order,” Jamaat-e-Islami deputy chief Liaquat Baluch told Reuters.
Jamaat-e-Islami and other religious parties don’t win many votes in elections but are capable of organising large protests often seize on sensitive issues concerning the United States.
Earlier, the Pakistani Taliban and Jamaat-ud-Dawa also issued similar statements.
Imran Khan warns rulers not to release Raymond Davis – The Express Tribune
monitor
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Kerry heads to Pakistan over US gunman
AFP, Islamabad
US Senator John Kerry is to visit Pakistan late Tuesday on a mission to resolve a diplomatic row over an American official charged by police with murdering two Pakistanis.
The chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who helped spearhead a record $7.5 billion aid package for Pakistan, is well respected in the nuclear-armed country on the front line of the US-led war on Al-Qaeda.
He will meet government officials to reassure them of long-term US commitment to Pakistan, said a spokeswoman for the US embassy in Islamabad. "He's coming tonight to speak with government officials about the relationship and reaffirm support for the strategic relationship," said spokeswoman Courtney Beale. Pakistan's fragile ties with the United States have spun into crisis since Raymond Davis was taken into custody and confessed to shooting dead two men in self-defence on a busy street in the eastern city of Lahore on January 27.
Washington says he is a diplomat who should be released immediately in keeping with international law. Pakistan's weak and unpopular government is under enormous pressure to put Davis on trial in a country awash with anti-American sentiment.
The United States has postponed a round of high-level talks with Afghanistan and Pakistan following failed attempts to get Davis out and US lawmakers have threatened to cut payments to Pakistan unless he is freed. Kerry's visit aims to look for a resolution to the issue and to tone down the pressure on Pakistan's coalition government, one US official said on condition of anonymity. A court last Friday remanded Davis in custody until February 25 and police accused him of cold-blooded murder.
Lahore police said Tuesday they had submitted in court completed documents charging Davis with murder, a precursor to any formal indictment.
AFP, Islamabad
US Senator John Kerry is to visit Pakistan late Tuesday on a mission to resolve a diplomatic row over an American official charged by police with murdering two Pakistanis.
The chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who helped spearhead a record $7.5 billion aid package for Pakistan, is well respected in the nuclear-armed country on the front line of the US-led war on Al-Qaeda.
He will meet government officials to reassure them of long-term US commitment to Pakistan, said a spokeswoman for the US embassy in Islamabad. "He's coming tonight to speak with government officials about the relationship and reaffirm support for the strategic relationship," said spokeswoman Courtney Beale. Pakistan's fragile ties with the United States have spun into crisis since Raymond Davis was taken into custody and confessed to shooting dead two men in self-defence on a busy street in the eastern city of Lahore on January 27.
Washington says he is a diplomat who should be released immediately in keeping with international law. Pakistan's weak and unpopular government is under enormous pressure to put Davis on trial in a country awash with anti-American sentiment.
The United States has postponed a round of high-level talks with Afghanistan and Pakistan following failed attempts to get Davis out and US lawmakers have threatened to cut payments to Pakistan unless he is freed. Kerry's visit aims to look for a resolution to the issue and to tone down the pressure on Pakistan's coalition government, one US official said on condition of anonymity. A court last Friday remanded Davis in custody until February 25 and police accused him of cold-blooded murder.
Lahore police said Tuesday they had submitted in court completed documents charging Davis with murder, a precursor to any formal indictment.
majesticpankaj
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pakistan is walking on a very tight rope.... one side is people of pakistan and on the other side US backlash... On they choose one side they win morally on other side economically. Interesting to see.
MastanKhan
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Hi,
My good man---when close to 30 years ago I came to the U S---I was also into winning arguments---in due time I learnt the race is not to the winner---. I didnot win over here nor do I seek to win otherwise---it a discussion and we share to make oursleves better---on the other hand my man---in my book----you are the winner---you have that much conscience in your heart and soul and the grace to admit and that takes you above the others.
Awesome
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This government should resign after granting Davis the fake immunity papers.
Why did they have to kick off Qureshi from the Foreign Ministry position when he said that his ministry has determined that Davis does not have immunity.
The government ceases to be Pakistan's government when it does this.
Why did they have to kick off Qureshi from the Foreign Ministry position when he said that his ministry has determined that Davis does not have immunity.
The government ceases to be Pakistan's government when it does this.
trident2010
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Obama asks Pakistan to release 'diplomat' Raymond Davis
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has asked Pakistan to treat Raymond Davis, who allegedly shot dead two men in Lahore, as a diplomat and release him.
While insisting that Pakistan must not prosecute Davis, Obama said he was concerned about the loss of Pakistani lives in the incident, the Dawn News reported on Wednesday.
"Obviously we're concerned about the loss of life," Obama said at a press conference.
However, he said Davis should be treated as a diplomat. "There's a broader principle at stake that I think we have to uphold."
In his first public remarks on a case that has strained US relations with Pakistan, Obama noted that the Vienna Convention for diplomatic immunity granted Davis some rights, the report said.
"We expect Pakistan to abide by the same convention," he said. "We're going to be continuing to work with the Pakistani government to get this person released."
Davis, an official with the US diplomatic mission in Lahore, has been in judicial custody pending investigation. He was arrested Jan 27 for killing two men at an intersection in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province. Davis claimed to have acted on self-defence, saying the two men were trying to rob him.
According to US media reports, Pakistani officials would present documents to the Lahore High Court to support Davis' claim for immunity.
The US state department said that it too would provide evidence in the Lahore High Court to show that Davis was entitled to diplomatic immunity.
State department spokesman Philip J Crowley said that the US government would file a petition for Davis' release Thursday and provide evidence of his diplomatic status.
Crowley, however, rejected a suggestion that the US had put its relationship with Pakistan at risk by insisting on Davis' release.
"We are building a strategic partnership with Pakistan. We are going to build this relationship for the long term," he said.
But the US also "respects its international obligations, and we expect other countries, including Pakistan, to do the same". Crowley rejected Pakistan's former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's claim that Davis was not a diplomat.
"He does have diplomatic immunity. Pakistan has an obligation to certify that under the Vienna Convention, and we continue to engage Pakistan to insist that he be released," said Crowley.
Obama asks Pakistan to release 'diplomat' Raymond Davis - The Times of India
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has asked Pakistan to treat Raymond Davis, who allegedly shot dead two men in Lahore, as a diplomat and release him.
While insisting that Pakistan must not prosecute Davis, Obama said he was concerned about the loss of Pakistani lives in the incident, the Dawn News reported on Wednesday.
"Obviously we're concerned about the loss of life," Obama said at a press conference.
However, he said Davis should be treated as a diplomat. "There's a broader principle at stake that I think we have to uphold."
In his first public remarks on a case that has strained US relations with Pakistan, Obama noted that the Vienna Convention for diplomatic immunity granted Davis some rights, the report said.
"We expect Pakistan to abide by the same convention," he said. "We're going to be continuing to work with the Pakistani government to get this person released."
Davis, an official with the US diplomatic mission in Lahore, has been in judicial custody pending investigation. He was arrested Jan 27 for killing two men at an intersection in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province. Davis claimed to have acted on self-defence, saying the two men were trying to rob him.
According to US media reports, Pakistani officials would present documents to the Lahore High Court to support Davis' claim for immunity.
The US state department said that it too would provide evidence in the Lahore High Court to show that Davis was entitled to diplomatic immunity.
State department spokesman Philip J Crowley said that the US government would file a petition for Davis' release Thursday and provide evidence of his diplomatic status.
Crowley, however, rejected a suggestion that the US had put its relationship with Pakistan at risk by insisting on Davis' release.
"We are building a strategic partnership with Pakistan. We are going to build this relationship for the long term," he said.
But the US also "respects its international obligations, and we expect other countries, including Pakistan, to do the same". Crowley rejected Pakistan's former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's claim that Davis was not a diplomat.
"He does have diplomatic immunity. Pakistan has an obligation to certify that under the Vienna Convention, and we continue to engage Pakistan to insist that he be released," said Crowley.
Obama asks Pakistan to release 'diplomat' Raymond Davis - The Times of India
MastanKhan
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ResCue Ranger,
Thank you for sharing your self with us.
This case has been handled very poorly by the provincial govt intentionally. It was a matter for the federal govt to decide and they should have been given the charge. In cases like these---even in the united states---the states want to keep aloof of the issues that are in the realm of the feds---. The states give in to the feds to let them handle their problems.
The provincial govt is only looking for its welfare----a very narrow and tunnel vision of the issue at hand----the federal govt has to keep in focus the broader picture, the current situation and the future consequences, foreign policy matters, foreign relations amongst other things.
Even if PPP loses its govt---what's the big deal---it is not the first time it has lost and it won't be the last time it would lose---the fools who brought them in, would be ready to bring them back at a later date.
I wish that all the character that so many of my pakistani colleagues are showing over here, transform them intop doing something really productive for the country---.
Thank you for sharing your self with us.
This case has been handled very poorly by the provincial govt intentionally. It was a matter for the federal govt to decide and they should have been given the charge. In cases like these---even in the united states---the states want to keep aloof of the issues that are in the realm of the feds---. The states give in to the feds to let them handle their problems.
The provincial govt is only looking for its welfare----a very narrow and tunnel vision of the issue at hand----the federal govt has to keep in focus the broader picture, the current situation and the future consequences, foreign policy matters, foreign relations amongst other things.
Even if PPP loses its govt---what's the big deal---it is not the first time it has lost and it won't be the last time it would lose---the fools who brought them in, would be ready to bring them back at a later date.
I wish that all the character that so many of my pakistani colleagues are showing over here, transform them intop doing something really productive for the country---.
AstanoshKhan
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Call to All Pakistanis
Dear sons/daughters of Pakistan,
As-Salam Alaikum. May you all find peace and heart in these tough times.
Please take note. Its not enough for us all to just sit aside and keep talking about the injustice. The puppet regime will fold and give in to the hypocritical stance of the US state, thats demanding that a criminal who killed 2 people on the street in public in broad daylight should be allowed to go scott free. We cannot allow this. If the govt cannot take a stand then army needs to take stand on this matter. Its pathetic how the media has started trying to justify and find excuses to allow US to get away with murder. This is do and die like just the Nuclear explosions of 1998. We cannot allow this. Its bigger than any government.
Also how pathetic that nobody can mobilize the people to come out on the street. The political idiots keep screaming revolution but cannot formulate a simple strategy to galvanize the people around this murder. Its so simple to mobilize people on this matter. This is bigger than a region, or language politics. Its about national stakes, and people will take heed to stand behind this issue. Its emotional and raw.
Our young people need to be molded to serve our country just like the Pakistan movement. We had a dynamic generation at time of creation of Pakistan, and then an inept generation followed that lost the mantle. The new young generation of today can do so much, They are of a nation of 180 million with a GDP larger than $464Billion and the potential for a whole lot more to trade and generate a healthy economy with a growing population wanting services/products. Lets not underestimate ourselves. We don’t need to beg a measly $7B to balance our books and forsake our dignity and honor in this trade. Its our right to manage our books ourselves. Nobody can dictate us, if we stand our ground. Why do we have un-educated people with fake degrees leading us a nation of 180 Million. We are too big and too important. Our nation ranks 27th in the world on GDP output. There are 200+ nations behind us who yield less power and might than us. In 2050, our nation will be waited upon by the nations of the world to sell products and services to us. We will have become the 5th largest consumer market by then, and can easily leave behind other nations behind. Population is not the problem, but an asset. We need to create services for our people that suits our needs and mobilizes our nation in the process. Is our nation’s wealth in creating and buying Apple IPods and IPhones or creating simple services that reach everyone. Simple services and reachability can generate wealth amongst our people. Take the cellphone culture that has sweeped our nation, that reaches every corner of our nation and all who can access it, get benefits from it whether educated/uneducated alike. In turn we created a revenue stream that made rich people out of the organizations that run it and gives our govt a medium to generate new taxes. With innovation and intellect we can turn a population of 180 million into a revenue powerhouse. I believe when God says that the Rizq of everyone is taken care of, I take that to mean that the possibilities are endless to feed and cloth everybody with the right policies and management. We will not go wanting by the Grace of God, if we are smart and work hard.
I also cry for my people. How shameful that a young daughter of my nation cries in pain that she cannot get justice when her husband is killed brutally by an american killer on our streets. She lives in my country but cries out and dies waiting. How can that not haunt you and pull you to action. Our history shows that a similar daughter called out from the shores of this nation, and Mohammed Bin Qasim was sent to provide justice. Are we not muslims that cannot provide justice to our own daughter in our homeland. Should a new Bin Qasim come from some other Muslim country to protect the chadar and izzat of our daughters in this country. We should be ashamed of ourselves as muslims. Our daughter did not trust us and the most she did to any of us was to commit suicide herself. She didn’t slap us, didn’t kick us, didn’t lash out us, and God forbid didn’t blow us up, she just chose to kill herself in protest. She was sane and of sound mind, and didn’t sell her soul. She has every right to demand justice from us. We are the descendents of Mohammed Bin Qasim that should have run to the rescue of our women where ever they are. We have disappointed our daughters and mothers and forsaken our heritage. Its not about one american killer anymore. Its about the death of our values.
Dear sons/daughters of Pakistan,
As-Salam Alaikum. May you all find peace and heart in these tough times.
Please take note. Its not enough for us all to just sit aside and keep talking about the injustice. The puppet regime will fold and give in to the hypocritical stance of the US state, thats demanding that a criminal who killed 2 people on the street in public in broad daylight should be allowed to go scott free. We cannot allow this. If the govt cannot take a stand then army needs to take stand on this matter. Its pathetic how the media has started trying to justify and find excuses to allow US to get away with murder. This is do and die like just the Nuclear explosions of 1998. We cannot allow this. Its bigger than any government.
Also how pathetic that nobody can mobilize the people to come out on the street. The political idiots keep screaming revolution but cannot formulate a simple strategy to galvanize the people around this murder. Its so simple to mobilize people on this matter. This is bigger than a region, or language politics. Its about national stakes, and people will take heed to stand behind this issue. Its emotional and raw.
Our young people need to be molded to serve our country just like the Pakistan movement. We had a dynamic generation at time of creation of Pakistan, and then an inept generation followed that lost the mantle. The new young generation of today can do so much, They are of a nation of 180 million with a GDP larger than $464Billion and the potential for a whole lot more to trade and generate a healthy economy with a growing population wanting services/products. Lets not underestimate ourselves. We don’t need to beg a measly $7B to balance our books and forsake our dignity and honor in this trade. Its our right to manage our books ourselves. Nobody can dictate us, if we stand our ground. Why do we have un-educated people with fake degrees leading us a nation of 180 Million. We are too big and too important. Our nation ranks 27th in the world on GDP output. There are 200+ nations behind us who yield less power and might than us. In 2050, our nation will be waited upon by the nations of the world to sell products and services to us. We will have become the 5th largest consumer market by then, and can easily leave behind other nations behind. Population is not the problem, but an asset. We need to create services for our people that suits our needs and mobilizes our nation in the process. Is our nation’s wealth in creating and buying Apple IPods and IPhones or creating simple services that reach everyone. Simple services and reachability can generate wealth amongst our people. Take the cellphone culture that has sweeped our nation, that reaches every corner of our nation and all who can access it, get benefits from it whether educated/uneducated alike. In turn we created a revenue stream that made rich people out of the organizations that run it and gives our govt a medium to generate new taxes. With innovation and intellect we can turn a population of 180 million into a revenue powerhouse. I believe when God says that the Rizq of everyone is taken care of, I take that to mean that the possibilities are endless to feed and cloth everybody with the right policies and management. We will not go wanting by the Grace of God, if we are smart and work hard.
I also cry for my people. How shameful that a young daughter of my nation cries in pain that she cannot get justice when her husband is killed brutally by an american killer on our streets. She lives in my country but cries out and dies waiting. How can that not haunt you and pull you to action. Our history shows that a similar daughter called out from the shores of this nation, and Mohammed Bin Qasim was sent to provide justice. Are we not muslims that cannot provide justice to our own daughter in our homeland. Should a new Bin Qasim come from some other Muslim country to protect the chadar and izzat of our daughters in this country. We should be ashamed of ourselves as muslims. Our daughter did not trust us and the most she did to any of us was to commit suicide herself. She didn’t slap us, didn’t kick us, didn’t lash out us, and God forbid didn’t blow us up, she just chose to kill herself in protest. She was sane and of sound mind, and didn’t sell her soul. She has every right to demand justice from us. We are the descendents of Mohammed Bin Qasim that should have run to the rescue of our women where ever they are. We have disappointed our daughters and mothers and forsaken our heritage. Its not about one american killer anymore. Its about the death of our values.
Zeeshan360
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The outcome will be very interesting
Till then popcorn
Till then popcorn
AstanoshKhan
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New York Times: Davis a ‘Gun-For-Hire’ and Not ‘Diplomat’
There were lots of things to be afraid of in Baghdad in the bad old days — kidnapping, beheading, truck bombs — but nothing scared me more than trigger-happy Americans who careened out of the Green Zone, ready to shoot anybody and anything they saw as a real or imagined threat. Many were not soldiers, but private security guards under government contract who could, and did, kill with impunity — seemingly a law unto themselves.
On a recent visit to Pakistan, I found a country rife with conspiracy theories in which Americans are most often the villains. Blackwater plays a major role in Pakistani fears, no matter how it endeavors to change its name.
Some of these conspiracy theories are fantasies, but in the curious case of Raymond Davis, all of Pakistan’s nightmares about Americans have coalesced. And this flame is fanned by the American refusals to reveal what Davis was supposed to be doing.
The facts are few and mysterious. Davis, 36, an employee at the American consulate in Lahore, was driving through town with a fully loaded Glock automatic pistol. Two men approached his car on a motor bike, Davis says, with intent to rob him. They were found later to have stolen cellphones.
Davis opened up on them with his Glock through the windshield and killed them both. Then he apparently stepped out of his car and photographed their dead bodies before he sped away. He was later arrested.
The case was further complicated when another car sped out of the consulate, apparently coming to Davis’ rescue, killed a Pakistani on a bicycle and sped back to the consulate. Neither the car nor the driver have been produced for the Pakistani authorities to question or inspect.
The Americans claim diplomatic immunity for Davis under Geneva Convention rules, and they are right by their lights. But Pakistani law says that Pakistan has a say in who has diplomatic immunity and who does not, and Pakistan deserves a full explanation.
There the matter stands, with the Pakistani courts threatening to try Davis for murder. The prosecution is saying that the shootings were not in self-defense. The Americans are hinting darkly that Pakistan will suffer dire consequences, canceled visits to Washington and a cut in financial aid.
In the meantime Pakistan is in a spasm of anti-American fury. The question of what an American “diplomat” was doing with a loaded gun, ready to use it, in the streets of a Pakistani city needs a lot more daylight than the Americans are providing.
And, yes, it turns out that Davis was not a member of the U.S. Foreign Service, but a gun-for-hire private operative attached to the “technical and administrative” staff of the consulate, according to the U.S. Embassy.
We all know that the business of private security has ballooned in recent years under very lucrative government contracts. The employees are often Americans, Britons and South Africans with military experience who can put their training to work for a great deal more money than usually awaits them in a fully civilian job. We also know that with U.S. forces stretched to the breaking point, these mercenaries, unhappily, play a major role in guarding American installations and embassies abroad that were once guarded only by U.S. Marines.
But in case after case, these private operatives have used lethal — and not always justified — force, and it is not clear whose laws they are under. Hamid Karzai tried to have them all fired from Afghanistan, but couldn’t do it, so important were these private guns to the American war effort.
The case of Raymond Davis plunged into even deeper mystery when the Pakistanis say they found maps on him of high security installations. The Pakistanis are suggesting he may have known the men whom he killed. The Americans, in the meantime, refuse any further explanation of his activities. The Lahore High Court won’t let the Pakistani government turn him over to the U.S. Embassy until they have ruled on his diplomatic status.
The Davis killings have resonance with a population already infuriated by the frequent drone attacks that often kill as many bystanders as militants. What is “collateral damage” to Americans is extra-judicial murder to many Pakistanis. The image of the careless American gunslinger is ingrained around the world through our greatest cultural export, the movies.
The best outcome would be for the Pakistanis to hand Davis over to the Americans under the terms of the Geneva Conventions, with the Americans giving a full explanation of what Davis was doing, and a worldwide crackdown on these private operatives who kill again and again with impunity or immunity.
And America should stop threatening Pakistan with loss of aid. The aid serves U.S. interests, not just Pakistan’s.
A version of this op-ed appeared in print on February 15, 2011, in The International Herald Tribune.
There were lots of things to be afraid of in Baghdad in the bad old days — kidnapping, beheading, truck bombs — but nothing scared me more than trigger-happy Americans who careened out of the Green Zone, ready to shoot anybody and anything they saw as a real or imagined threat. Many were not soldiers, but private security guards under government contract who could, and did, kill with impunity — seemingly a law unto themselves.
On a recent visit to Pakistan, I found a country rife with conspiracy theories in which Americans are most often the villains. Blackwater plays a major role in Pakistani fears, no matter how it endeavors to change its name.
Some of these conspiracy theories are fantasies, but in the curious case of Raymond Davis, all of Pakistan’s nightmares about Americans have coalesced. And this flame is fanned by the American refusals to reveal what Davis was supposed to be doing.
The facts are few and mysterious. Davis, 36, an employee at the American consulate in Lahore, was driving through town with a fully loaded Glock automatic pistol. Two men approached his car on a motor bike, Davis says, with intent to rob him. They were found later to have stolen cellphones.
Davis opened up on them with his Glock through the windshield and killed them both. Then he apparently stepped out of his car and photographed their dead bodies before he sped away. He was later arrested.
The case was further complicated when another car sped out of the consulate, apparently coming to Davis’ rescue, killed a Pakistani on a bicycle and sped back to the consulate. Neither the car nor the driver have been produced for the Pakistani authorities to question or inspect.
The Americans claim diplomatic immunity for Davis under Geneva Convention rules, and they are right by their lights. But Pakistani law says that Pakistan has a say in who has diplomatic immunity and who does not, and Pakistan deserves a full explanation.
There the matter stands, with the Pakistani courts threatening to try Davis for murder. The prosecution is saying that the shootings were not in self-defense. The Americans are hinting darkly that Pakistan will suffer dire consequences, canceled visits to Washington and a cut in financial aid.
In the meantime Pakistan is in a spasm of anti-American fury. The question of what an American “diplomat” was doing with a loaded gun, ready to use it, in the streets of a Pakistani city needs a lot more daylight than the Americans are providing.
And, yes, it turns out that Davis was not a member of the U.S. Foreign Service, but a gun-for-hire private operative attached to the “technical and administrative” staff of the consulate, according to the U.S. Embassy.
We all know that the business of private security has ballooned in recent years under very lucrative government contracts. The employees are often Americans, Britons and South Africans with military experience who can put their training to work for a great deal more money than usually awaits them in a fully civilian job. We also know that with U.S. forces stretched to the breaking point, these mercenaries, unhappily, play a major role in guarding American installations and embassies abroad that were once guarded only by U.S. Marines.
But in case after case, these private operatives have used lethal — and not always justified — force, and it is not clear whose laws they are under. Hamid Karzai tried to have them all fired from Afghanistan, but couldn’t do it, so important were these private guns to the American war effort.
The case of Raymond Davis plunged into even deeper mystery when the Pakistanis say they found maps on him of high security installations. The Pakistanis are suggesting he may have known the men whom he killed. The Americans, in the meantime, refuse any further explanation of his activities. The Lahore High Court won’t let the Pakistani government turn him over to the U.S. Embassy until they have ruled on his diplomatic status.
The Davis killings have resonance with a population already infuriated by the frequent drone attacks that often kill as many bystanders as militants. What is “collateral damage” to Americans is extra-judicial murder to many Pakistanis. The image of the careless American gunslinger is ingrained around the world through our greatest cultural export, the movies.
The best outcome would be for the Pakistanis to hand Davis over to the Americans under the terms of the Geneva Conventions, with the Americans giving a full explanation of what Davis was doing, and a worldwide crackdown on these private operatives who kill again and again with impunity or immunity.
And America should stop threatening Pakistan with loss of aid. The aid serves U.S. interests, not just Pakistan’s.
A version of this op-ed appeared in print on February 15, 2011, in The International Herald Tribune.
VCheng
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The OFFICIAL statement from the Federal government remains the VALID document, no matter what you speculate.
There will be no eruption. This hoopla by the self appointed guardians of national morality will die down sooner than froth.
If you fail to recognize your own democratically elected government as having legal authority, then please work to have a peaceful change of power. That would be called an "election" in most civilized countries.
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