These excerpts from an editorial in Dawn indicate that USA will likely find it difficult to move forward in its negotiations with Pakistan:
from: http://dawn.com/2012/05/23/back-in-the-fold/
..........With the focus in Chicago on the withdrawal phase in Afghanistan and the timeline for the reopening of the supply route through Pakistan, Pakistani officials somehow saw fit to once again raise the issue of an apology over Salala. Was this pandering to a domestic audience in Pakistan, a way of shoring up the fight for more money for utilisation of the supply route or a genuine demand by Pakistan reflecting the inflexibility of some inside, and close to, the security establishment?
As for the haggling over the price of the supply route, inexplicable as it seems but the Pakistani position really does seem to be ultimately about money — just a few hundred million dollars a year. ..........................But even if Pakistan does succeed in exponentially increasing the money flowing to the national exchequer for use of the supply route, is that worth the price Pakistan will likely pay in terms of lost goodwill and sympathy? What appears to be happening in Pakistan is a paralysis of sorts: the security establishment and the political government seem too afraid to break from positions they publicly took without necessarily thinking them through. .............
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