Dr. Shakil Afridi was imprisoned for helping the United States identify the location of Osama Bin Laden. Three years of quiet diplomacy has not helped to secure his release. (Mohammed Rauf photo/AFP/Getty images)
“Bin Laden is dead”…. “we took out Bin Laden” How often have we heard those words over the past three years in speeches by President Obama, Vice President Biden and members of the national security team?
But what about Dr. Shakil Afridi? “Who’s he?” would likely be the response from most Americans. Using the cover of a door-to-door vaccination program, Doctor Afridi, was the key to our locating Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
The doctor was first tried for “conspiracy against the State of Pakistan and high treason;” charges that carry the death penalty. He was later sentenced to 33 years in prison for lesser trumped up charges.
Then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta both called for the doctor’s release on the grounds that he was helping rid the region of terrorism.
Since then the U.S. Government is supposedly using quiet diplomacy to free the doctor, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) have been pushing to have the $1.4 billion aid cut to Pakistan. “Cutting off aid to Pakistan would not be a good move, certainly at this point of time, for a lot of different reasons,” said Secretary of State John Kerry. Kerry denied that we are simply allowing the doctor to languish away in prison, and that discussions continue on this “complicated” issue.
The plot to get Bin Laden without informing Pakistani officials proved to be extremely embarrassing to them. The Obama administration must develop a strategy to secure Doctor Afridi’s freedom while enabling Pakistan to save face. This will be difficult in a country that recently ranked its trust in the U.S. at 10 per cent.
While it can be argued that the killing of Bin Laden was more symbolic than strategic, the immeasurable assistance of Doctor Afridi should not be forgotten.
