In aftermath of shooting, rising skepticism about American presence in Pakistan

Source: Washington Post

In aftermath of shooting, rising skepticism about American presence in Pakistan
By Karin Brulliard
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, February 22, 2011; 3:33 PM

ISLAMABAD - Raymond Davis, the American CIA contractor jailed for fatally shooting two Pakistani men last month, has quickly assumed the role of Pakistan's public enemy No. 1. But not far behind him are those who have come to be known as "Raymond Davises."

Davis's name has become a byword for a presumed army of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of shadowy American operatives stalking Pakistani streets. So important is his silence to protecting their mission, according to some Pakistani media reports, that the United States might spring him from prison in an action movie-style rescue operation - or have its agents poison him.

"The Americans want to destroy Pakistan," said Aslam Hayat, 54, a construction worker who was speaking after prayers at a mosque in Rawalpindi. "That's why people like Davis are roaming all around the country, assigned with different tasks against our country."

Such conspiracy theories have long dominated discussions here about the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, in part because they are occasionally confirmed - as one was this week when U.S. officials said that Davis is a security contractor for the CIA. They had previously described him as a diplomat entitled to immunity from prosecution, a characterization they still maintain is accurate. But officials and analysts said the speculation about multitudes of American gunslingers also reflects widespread hostility toward the U.S. presence, which has spiked since the shooting and could represent a particularly ominous turn for the United States' rapidly expanding mission in Pakistan.





Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/22/AR2011022204650.html

:shrug: It is like pissing into the wind..