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US envoy vows to hit Pakistan mistrust head-on
The nominee to be the next US ambassador to Pakistan on Thursday pledged "ceaseless engagement" to combat the country's anti-Americanism, saying Washington needed to do a better job explaining its motives.
Cameron Munter, a veteran diplomat in hot-spots such as Iraq and Serbia, said the United States should pursue a long-term commitment to help Pakistan fight Islamic extremism and recover from devastating floods.
But in his confirmation hearing before the Senate, Munter said that US officials needed to be better listeners and "build a lasting relationship with Pakistani counterparts based on honesty and mutual respect."
"Let's be honest about this. We need to overcome historical skepticism among Pakistanis about American motives in South Asia, and this will require ceaseless engagement, energy and outreach," Munter said.
"We will not always agree with Pakistan on every priority, but we will work through our differences as partners, with our eyes on a vision we share of the strong, independent Pakistan at peace with its neighbors and free of terrorism," he said.
The September 11, 2001 attacks transformed Pakistan overnight into a frontline US partner, with Islamabad ending its recognition of Afghanistan's Taliban regime and pledging support to US forces.
Alarmed by Islamic extremism within Pakistan, President Barack Obama's administration has made the country a top priority. Congress last year approved a five-year, 7.5 billion-dollar aid package to build schools, infrastructure and democratic institutions.
But a recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that a mere 17 percent of Pakistanis held a favorable view of the United States. Activists rallied Thursday in Karachi after a US court jailed a Pakistani scientist, Aafia Siddiqui, on charges of trying to kill US officers in Afghanistan.
Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, a member of Obama's Democratic Party, said there was "perhaps some dismay -- and that might be an understatement -- among the American people for what they perceive as ingratitude from Pakistan."
"But we cannot expect anything different if the Pakistani people do not know the extent of our investment and partnership," Casey said.
Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, a member of the rival Republican Party, was more blunt, noting that the United States has committed the aid package despite a worsening national debt.
"We're encumbering our kids' and our grandkids' future," Risch said. "We don't have any money anymore."
"Do they have even a modicum of appreciation for what Americans are doing for them?" Risch said.
Munter replied: "I don't think it's a question that they don't know what we're doing. The question is the skepticism of why we're doing it."
Referring to historic mistrust between the countries, Munter said: "We are perhaps not doing as well as we might in understanding the impact of that past and that idea in the mind of Pakistanis."
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that Pakistanis' view of the United States was improving thanks to Washington's rapid assistance following the floods.
"The US has made significant progress in the battle for the hearts and minds of our people," Qureshi said Tuesday at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
Munter's nomination needs the approval of the full Senate, which is likely.
Munter did not hide concerns about Pakistan. He said the United States would press for the rights of religious minorities in Pakistan including reform of its laws on blasphemy, widely criticized as a pretext for abuse.
He said that the United States would also press for access to Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb. Many Pakistanis revere Khan, who allegedly operated a vast global proliferation network.
