US HARDLINERS FAVOUR SANCTIONS ON PAKISTAN’S CIVILIAN, MILITARY AND INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS

  Wednesday, 28 March 2018

source: shiitenews

US President Donald Trump’s close aides are weighing unprecedented political penalties on Pakistan for what they accused “harboring Afghan militants waging war on the U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan.” These hardliners are discussing revoking Pakistan’s status as a major non-NATO ally, permanently cutting off the U.S. military aid and even imposing visa bans or other sanctions on individuals in the Pakistani government deemed responsible for providing support to the militants, according to chief national security correspondent of Foreign Policy magazine.
The correspondent reported that the appointment last week of a fervent hawk as national security advisor, John Bolton, and the nomination of another for secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, could tilt the discussion in favor of tougher measures against Islamabad.
He disclosed that the White House is also weighing even more drastic measures to include visa bans or other punitive measures against individual members of the Pakistani government, military, or ISI intelligence service suspected of allowing the Taliban and Haqqani militants to operate from sanctuaries inside Pakistan, current and former officials told Foreign Policy. “We are prepared to do whatever is necessary to protect U.S. personnel and interests in the region,” the senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters last week.
If carried out, the combined measures would represent a clear rebuke of Pakistan and signal the unraveling of an uneasy military alliance that was born during the Cold War and renewed in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.