The US Congress on Wednesday passed its first 2008 legislation by condemning the murder of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto amid a call for a shift in US policy towards Islamabad.
"What is clear is that before Pakistan devolves any further in chaos and violence, US policy has to change," Democratic lawmaker Gary Ackerman said after his resolution, which "condemns in the strongest terms" Benazir's assassination," was approved by a vote of 413 to 0 in the house of Representatives. It was the first piece of legislation to be taken up and passed by Congress this year.
Ackerman said that the reliance by President George W. Bush's administration on "war on terror" ally Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to restore democracy while fighting against extremism had not worked. "There has been neither success against terrorism nor a return to democracy," he said, as he chaired a separate House hearing on US-Pakistan relations.
The United States, he said, needs a new approach to Pakistan that puts as much emphasis on building stable, free and moderate institutions as it has on fighting terrorists.
Ackerman, a senior member of the influential House committee on foreign affairs, cited a recent survey by the United States Institute for Peace and World Public Opinion which showed that Pakistanis overwhelmingly view having elected leadership as important.
"The Bush Administration needs to build on the Pakistani view of the importance of democracy and needs to start by insisting that the elections on February 18 are free and fair," Ackerman said.
He also called for "a fundamental reappraisal" of US assistance to Pakistan, saying Washington has for too long provided the country's military with the bulk of its aid and "neglected" those aimed at building and strengthening democratic institutions.
"The potential for civil unrest and instability emerging from a flawed election in Pakistan, therefore, ought to remain the most problematic contingency from the viewpoint of the Bush administration," said Tellis from the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Lisa Curtis, a former CIA analyst and ex-senior State Department advisor on South Asia, warned that US-Pakistan relations were "crossing troubled waters," and "anti-Americanism is reaching the boiling point."
She said a strong US public stance supporting the process of democracy without focusing on any one particular leader or party would help calm the situation. "Washington should increasingly view Musharraf as a transitional figure whose influence is likely to decline in the months ahead," she said.