US paper cautions Congress against harming 'vital' Pakistan relationship

A major American newspaper has asked Congress to back off from moves like withholding 75 per cent of US security assistance for Pakistan as such threats jeopardise the "strategically vital" relationship, which is "crucial" to curbing militant threat in the region.
In an editorial, the "Los Angeles Times" observed Saturday that as the Obama administration tries to preserve a "crucial relationship" - in the wake of unilateral American raid on Osama bin Laden hideout in Abbottabad - "Congressional interference is doing more harm than good."
"It turns out that killing Osama bin Laden was the easy part. Dealing with the political fallout from the May 2 raid on the al Qaeda leader's Pakistan compound is proving trickier. And Congress isn't helping." The newspaper refers to stance adopted by politicians from both parties, including GOP presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Va.), who are questioning whether that assistance should be maintained.
"Talk turned into action Tuesday, when the House Appropriations Committee approved a defence spending bill that would authorise Congress to withhold 75% of a $1.1billion aid package for Pakistan. This provision richly deserves to be stripped from the final version."
The editorial says President Obama's decision not to inform Pakistani leaders in advance of the Abbottabad raid, may look the right move from a military standpoint but was "extraordinarily provocative diplomatically." "With relations already seriously frayed because of civilian casualties from U S drone strikes and the killing of two Pakistanis by a CIA contractor in January, the raid was seen by Pakistanis as a humiliating violation of national sovereignty. As a result, the country's leaders are under crushing pressure to assert independence from an "ally" that the majority of the populace considers an enemy."
"In that context, the backlash from Islamabad isn't surprising." Pakistani officials have demanded a reduction in the U S military presence, which has taken place, and an end to drone attacks, which hasn't."
In the American perspective, the newspaper refers to troubling questions about how al Qaeda chief could have lived undetected in Abbottabad but also refers to outgoing Defence Secretary Robert M Gates' declaration that there's no evidence the country's top leaders were aware of the militant leader's presence in the town.
Therefore, the editorial asserts, "it makes little sense to further Jeopardise a relationship that is strategically vital" to both countries' war against violent extremists. "Now is a time for diplomats to work quietly behind the scenes to smooth ruffled feathers, not for politicians to burst in with leaf blowers."