What Did Pakistan know about Osama bin Laden?

Since 9/11 most Americans have come to accept additional security checks and other restrictions on their privacy as part of the war on terrorism. But submitting to a TSA body scan at the airport is a small thing compared to the way the war on terror affects everyday life in Pakistan. According the the Sustainable Policy Development Institute, Pakistan spends 65% of its budget on the military, leaving only 35% percent for energy, education and other needs of a developing country.
Armed guards are not just for government buildings here, but a necessity for offices and factories and even some homes. It's an environment that scares away badly needed foreign investment. Even Pakistan's national sports pastime, cricket, has suffered because of a terrorist attack on a visiting Sri Lankan team in 2009; international matches can no longer be played in Pakistan. One analyst explained that "terrorism damages the brand name" of the entire country.

Pakistan's brand was further damaged by the revelation that Osama Bin Laden was hiding in plain sight in Abottabad, a city near the capital that is also home to a major military academy. When Navy Seals raided the compound in May 2011, killing the man believed chiefly responsible for the 9/11 attacks, many Americans saw it as proof that Pakistan can't be trusted to track down even the most notorious terrorists. Our group of visiting American journalists had a number of opportunities to question what the Pakistanis knew about Bin Laden's whereabouts and why they didn't do more to help bring him to justice. Riaz Khokar, a former foreign secretary and ambassador to India, China and the U.S, said it was unlikely Pakistani intelligence knew of OBL's hideout: "If you look at the house, remember the first story was that it was a $20 million mansion but it wasn't even worth $20,000," he said. "Believe me, the man was living there in squalor and penury. You just had to see the pictures of the filth and dirt. He had no security, no men with guns and rifles. I'm not justifying it, I'm just saying that if he was a guest of the government of Pakistan I can assure you he wouldn't have been living like that." Listen to his comment here.


Other officials insisted on being "off the record" so they could speak more freely about the US-Pakistan relationship. We didn't speak with any Pakistanis who felt the need to apologize or explain how Pakistan could fail to notice the presence of the world's most wanted terrorist. Instead, there was a feeling that the US should apologize for violating Pakistani sovereignty by conducting the OBL raid. It was just part of an often repeated wish list that included:

• a formal US apology for the deadly Nov. 11 airstrike on Pakistani troops;
• multi-billion dollar reimbursement for Pakistan's expenses in the war on terror;
• energy considerations, including civilian nuclear power and a possible gas pipline from Iran;
• end to drone strikes;
• more non-military aid from the US without strings attached.

On the American side, it was no surprise to hear that Pakistan's wish list is "not happening." American military analysts acknowledge the difficulties Pakistan is facing in trying to gain control of the tribal areas where Taliban fighters move back and forth across the Afghan border. Extremists sometimes take refuge in villages that straddle the border, making it difficult to say for sure where Afghanistan ends and Pakistani sovereignty begins. "It's their Vietnam," said one military expert, describing the frustration of battle-weary Pakistani troops and their families. Conspiracy theories thrive in Pakistan, including the possibility that the military is in on the drone strikes on terrorist targets, but allows the US to take the blame. Another unproven theory holds that the US wants to seize Pakistan's nuclear weapons. Pakistan responded to widespread anti-American public sentiment by closing supply routes to NATO coalition troops in Afghanistan, forcing the US to find "another way to do business"  with 1,000 truckloads a day. A briefing from a top army general revealed Pakistan's pride in its military, from actions against Al Qaeda to the role of women in a variety of key assignments. Americans, on the other hand, describe Pakistan's armed forces as "professional but not modern."

One American noted that the US tends to focus on what's happening today, while the Pakistanis feel the pent-up resentment of history. It's impossible to discuss US-Pak relations for very long without someone invoking the name of Richard Holbrooke, the influential US diplomat who was serving as a special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan at the time of his death in 2010. Holbooke raised expectations of a fresh start in US-Pak relations, and Riaz Khokar is among those who hope for better days. "We have been friends, allies," he said. "We have shed blood together."

Update: In July 2012, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US was "sorry" for the raid that mistakenly killed Pakistani troops last year. Pakistan reopened the supply routes. However, drone strikes continue to strain US-Pak relations.