Zardari’s right words

President Asif Zardari has been right, both politically and legally, in telling Ambassador Cameron Munter and the readers of The Washington Post that US needs to show patience and not demand the release of Raymond Davis, while a Lahore court is hearing a case against him for murdering two Pakistanis. It should be quite plain to anyone, who has been following the developments about the Raymond David case, that the US continued pressure to get Davis released while the court is still seized of the matter is further fanning the already inflamed sentiments of the people of Pakistan.The pity is that the Americans are also well aware of the tense situation, but their insistence on getting their man out of jail and back home at the earliest is prompted by, it seems, more than one, though largely inter-related, reason. The superpower, right or wrong, would like its wishes to be complied with. It might sound strange that although the US and its allies are desperate about extricating themselves from the war on terror to avoid the humiliation and shame of defeat, and although Islamabad holds the key to the kind of withdrawal they could claim to be honourable, Washington is not worried about upsetting Pakistan. Besides, the demand under the circumstances leaves little room for doubt that not only it is not concerned about the backlash the Pakistan government would have to face, in case Davis was straightaway freed, but also is ready to accept the reality that the hatred of the US, already pervasive in the country in no small measure, would go up by several notches as a result. After all the American policymakers would not be that naïve not to conclude that the drones and their civilian murders and the frequency of terrorist attacks resulting from the ruthless operation of these killer flying machines, create an atmosphere of total revulsion against the US – Nation