ISLAMABAD — A secret memo seeking Washington’s help reining in the Pakistani military has brought into sharp relief the tensions between Pakistan’s shaky civilian government and its powerful army generals. The resulting scandal threatens Pakistan’s ambassador to the U.S. and perhaps the country’s president.
The ambassador, Husain Haqqani, has denied claims he was behind a a memo delivered to the U.S. military chief asking for help in installing a “new security team” in Islamabad that would be friendly to Washington.
The “memogate” scandal is adding to pressures on the already unpopular government. Some analysts have speculated that President Asif Ali Zardari himself could be in danger if charges that he signed off on the memo gain traction.
“The target is not me; the target is President Zardari and Pakistani democracy,” said Haqqani, who has offered to resign over the affair.
Though Pakistan has a civilian president, the military retains vast political and economic power and has ruled Pakistan, directly or indirectly, for most of its six-decade existence.
If authentic, the memo would fuel politically toxic charges that the government is colluding with the United States against the interests of the country and its army.
Though Washington pumps huge amounts of aid into the country, the U.S. is unpopular there. The affair has been whipped up by right-wing critics of the government and those close to the military establishment, which don’t trust Haqqani.
The unsigned memo was sent soon after the May 2 raid that killed Osama bin Laden in a city outside Islamabad and was delivered to Adm. Mike Mullen, the top U.S. military officer at the time.
The memo promises to allow the U.S. to propose names of officials to investigate bin Laden’s presence in Pakistan, facilitate American attempts to target top Islamists and allow it greater oversight of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.
