A bit late to this but let me try to explain it from the diaspora perspective.
The hope was that President Trump may finally undo the damage done by successive US admins, Dems and Republicans alike, that for decades either fully backed military dictatorships in Pakistan or turned a blind eye out of convenience.
And there were reasons to believe at the time as Trump took commonsense positions against foreign wars and regime change operations. Additionally, all the signals from his campaign were promising that the US would breakaway from its past misdealings that enormously benefited the ruling security elite of Pakistan at the expense of 240 million people of Pakistan.
Unfortunately, as it has been the case with all his other core campaign promises, Trump not only went back on his commitment to undo the Biden era damage to Pakistan but he instead doubled down his endorsement and validation to the latest military dictator in the country.
Did the diaspora know this was a possibility? Yes!
Was there another option at that period? No, since Kamala and Dems in general refused to even acknowledge the problem.
Corporation: "We made $4B but spent $3.9B so we only owe taxes on $100M."
Government: "Totally reasonable."
You: "I made $60K but spent $58K on survival."
Government: "You owe taxes on $60K."
You: "That's not—"
Government: "File by May 15."
میں ایک دفعہ عمران خان سے ملنے گیا تو وہاں پنکھا بند تھا عمران خان پسینے میں تر تھے، وہاں ایک جنرل بھی بیٹھا تھا وہ بھی پسینے میں تر تھا،
آپ عمران خان کو ٹارچر کریں گے تو وہ برداشت کر جائے گا،
عمران خان کو کسی بات کی معافی نہیں مانگی چاہیے، نعیم بخاری
What makes Imran Khan extraordinary is not his wins but his ability to win when winning feels impossible and all the hope is gone.
- Won the 1992 World Cup with a ragtag team that nobody, including the team itself, believed had any chance of winning. His sheer belief and will made it possible.
- Built a free cancer hospital for the poorest in society when everyone said it was a crazy idea and the model won’t work. Decades later it has expanded into other cities treating millions of cancer patients every year.
- Defied every critic and launched a political movement for justice that became Pakistan’s largest political party breaking the monopoly of two military backed political dynasties. He played clean in the dirt, and still won.
- Now at 73, in prison, fighting the final round for his people against monsters that don’t know the concept of sovereignty and freedom, and refuse to decolonize the country.
There is a clear pattern in his story. When there is no hope left and all the odds are stacked against him, that’s when he wins, and wins big!
By the end of it, this will be one of greatest story ever told.
This false equivalence is why each and every attack on Pakistani state institutions has been justified. You can have dozens issues with IK but to equate it as an assault on democracy is just plain crazy
The army leadership runs a WhatsApp group to coordinate messages with journalists. Sethi and Hamid Mir have claimed they have copies of the cipher. An undisciplined institution can’t control leaks
All was Indeed Forgiven.
3 things that came out of this that are significant:
1. The US policy and think tank community went around for years shrugging this off as a "conspiracy theory" knowing full well it was true. The dishonesty and confirmation bias that plagues D.C. is a case study on its own.
2. It appears that a consensus has emerged within the US strategic policy circles on their vision for Pakistan: A compliant military dictatorship that delivers on short-term US political and security interests over long term development interests of 250 million people of Pakistan.
There is a reason why Trump admin not only towed but doubled down on Biden's policy to work with a military dictator in Pakistan while looking away from the brutal persecution, mass electoral rigging, and imprisonment of former PM Imran Khan.
3. Pakistan's sovereignty and independence is questionable.
Once this latest facade of stability under a military dictator is gone, which it soon will, I hope there is something left of Pakistan to save.
I don’t think this dictatorship is worried about needing excuses to harm IK. Its lulli sized fans should focus on how their Abbu has yet to figure who the leaker is and that leaker doesn’t seem to care if this cypher is out there. So Abbu has to suspect everyone who touched it.