Shahzad’s killing echoes in Washington
By Brian M Downing
In 1979, Nicaraguan soldiers stopped an American correspondent covering the deteriorating situation and summarily executed him. The American public was appalled, support for Anastasio Somoza flagged badly after that, and his regime soon collapsed. Similar dynamics may be underway in Pakistan.
The murder in May of Asia Times Online’s Pakistani bureau chief Syed Saleem Shahzad, evidently at the hands of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), [1] has appalled many inside Pakistan and US policymakers are attracted to the issue. China has more influence there than the US does and so its disposition will be critical.
