Aafia Siddiqui and Pakistan’s bargain with American gulags

The Pakistani security state possesses an almost supernatural ability to discover “sovereignty” whenever cameras are rolling in Washington and to lose it entirely the moment the name Aafia Siddiqui is mentioned. Apparently, the Field Marshal can help broker ceasefires, whisper into the ears of presidents, posture as a grand strategist of West Asian stability, and market Pakistan as the indispensable hinge of global diplomacy — yet cannot perform the infinitesimally smaller task of demanding the return of a Pakistani woman whose suffering has become one of the ugliest symbols of the War on Terror. How extraordinary. A nuclear state that can allegedly influence the architecture of regional conflict suddenly develops the political helplessness of a hostage whenever Aafia enters the […]