Islamabad: A renowned American researcher,writer and anti-terror
expert has advised President Barrack Obama to apologize for the killing
of 24 Pakistani soldiers in the last month NATO air strike.
“The
United States must swiftly act to rectify this mess first by
apologizing. Second, the U.S. military must hold to account those
officers who are responsible for this tragedy,” C. Christine Fair,
Assistant Professor, Center for Peace and Security Studies Edmund A.
Walsh School of Foreign Service Georgetown University Washington, D.C
said.
“Not only should the appropriate personnel be demoted or
ousted per the severity of their negligence, but prosecution may also be
merited,” she said in her article in the Foreign Policy magazine on
Friday. “Despite the (US inquiry) report’s tedious efforts to parse
culpability, it is obvious that most of the onus falls on the United
States and NATO. So why does the United States steadfastly refuse to do
the right thing and issue a clear apology to Pakistan and its citizenry
in and out of uniform,” she said.
Christine Fair, who has served
as a political officer to the United Nations Assistance Mission to
Afghanistan in Kabul, said that the statement expressed regret, but
neither President Barack Obama nor Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
has issued a forthright apology.
“They Pakistanis) want nothing
more than an apology from Obama. Unfortunately, neither is likely to do
so given the toxic atmosphere in Washington and the looming
presidential campaign,” she said.
Talking about the findings of
the US investigations, she said the details of the report, and its
efforts to apportion blame across all sides, will not satisfy
Pakistanis, who feel they have suffered too much and received too little
from this partnership over the last 10 years.
Writing about
the tension between the US and Pakistan, she said neither the United
States nor Pakistan will benefit from a continued and escalating
standoff.
“America needs Pakistan to conclude its Afghanistan misadventure,” she said.
Christine
Fair said the NATO strike, and the U.S. response, battered the
ever-strained U.S.-Pakistan relationship, adding that Pakistan
immediately cut off ground routes for logistical support of the U.S.-led
war in Afghanistan, and insisted that the United States vacate Shamsi,
one of the airfields from which the U.S. launched drone attacks. Online
