New York:
Are the latest multiple attacks an irrefutable proof that Pakistan is losing the war on terror?
America wants Pakistan to account for the money it got from them to fight terror, but that's led to an all-out confrontation between the country's government and its army.
The Obama administration was caught unawares when after managing to convince Congress to pass a new $7.5-Billion aid package to Pakistan... opposition to the Bill in Pakistan nearly scuttled the Bill.
They were expecting to hail the Kerry-Lugar Bill as a successful engagement with Pakistan. Instead, the Obama administration was taken by surprise by the sudden and virulent opposition to stipulations in the Bill that demand more accountability from Pakistan in the fight against terror.
"You can't say at the last minute, this is worse than the last minute. After Congress has passed the Bill you are waking up and saying this language could be changed. They knew about the language. The language has been there all along, available for all those people who criticized it," says Prof Philip Oldenberg of the South Asia Institute at Columbia University.
Both sides spent the morning locked in last-minute negotiations on how to salvage the Kerry-Lugar Bill. The Obama team is now waiting to see if their explanatory statement issued on Thursday morning will diffuse Pakistani opposition to the legislation. President Obama has until Friday to either sign or veto the Bill.
"For the Obama administration this crisis has come at a very bad time. The US wants better relations with Pakistan but the recent string of attacks makes many people in the US government uncomfortable. They are asking why despite all the money that is being given and the cooperation between the two countries why the militants have not been eliminated. This is a big concern here," says Dr. Hassan Abbas, Bernard Schwartz Fellow, Asia Society.
It was meant to deepen US-Pakistani ties over the long term. However, the Kerry Lugar Bill has instead exacerbated tensions between Pakistan's civilian and military leaders, brought back to the surface Pakistani's mistrust of the US's intentions and weakened the very civilian government the Obama administration hoped to bolster.