Pakistanis Arrested for Aiding US

Last week there was a lot of news about the arrest of Pakistanis working for the US and assisting with the location of Osama Bin Laden. Many in Congress were questioning Pakistan as a friend and ally because of the arrests. Counties, friends and enemies alike, spy on each other all the time. When the espionage is uncovered, if the spies are from a foreign government, they get deported. If the spies are citizens of the country being spied upon, they are arrested and charged with espionage. Case in point, a number of years ago Jonathan Pollard, a US citizen, was tried and sentenced for spying for Israel, our special friend and ally. His arrest was proper and did not impact the relationship.

The arrested Pakistanis were on the CIA’s payroll. They were working under the direction of foreign agent handlers and if they were doing so without the blessing of Pakistan they were spies and therefore properly arrested. (Though their arrest may be for local consumption, a way of covering up for the fact that their government collaborated with us, a very unpopular thing.) One can argue whether and what kind of an ally Pakistan is but this arrest really should not sway the argument one way or the other.