This afternoon, Senator Kerry issued an apology for the killing of two Pakistanis in an incident on January 27 in Lahore, Pakistan. According to U.S. officials and Raymond Davis, the American who killed the two men, the deaths occurred as a result of self-defense—the Pakistanis rode on motorcycles and brandished weapons, threatening Davis.
Yet Kerry’s message could be taken as accepting responsibility for the deaths, implying that Davis operated outside of legal bounds as a diplomat operating in Pakistan:
“We are deeply, deeply sorry for that tragic incident,” Kerry told a press conference soon after arriving in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore. “I want to come here to express our deepest regret for those tragic events and to express the sorrow of American people for the loss of life that has taken place,” he said.
Every death is tragic, and officials should express their sympathy for the loss of life. But doing so in a politically charged situation while on travel to the foreign country in question undercuts the ability of the U.S. government to achieve its objectives—in this case, pressuring the Pakistani government to release Davis.
Kerry’s message also contradicts a statement from President Obama earlier today. At a press conference, President Obama said that Davis should be released immediately, as the Pakistani government should respect the global system of diplomatic immunity, a system from which Pakistani diplomats also receive protection around the world. Article 37, Section 2 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations states that administrative staff of an embassy, such as Davis, may not receive immunity if they fall afoul of a host country’s laws outside the performance of official duties. Yet the would-be motorcycle assailants clearly targeted Davis due to his status as an American official (and Davis responded, fearing for his life), thus the incident falls within the bounds of diplomatic immunity.
Yet Obama’s comments also may confuse those Pakistani government officials who paid attention to the release of the White House’s proposed 2012 budget yesterday. The document allots $3.1 billion in financial assistance to Pakistan, continuing the flow of a massive amount of American dollars to the South Asian country and sending a message that Washington continues to approve of Pakistan’s behavior.
The contradictory messages stem partially from poor foreign policy management by the administration. As I argued last week on National Review’s Corner blog, the administration failed to coordinate policy among its various parts during the Egypt crisis. We see the same confusion-generating activity in its handling of the Raymond Davis case.
Raymond Davis is an American citizen under diplomatic protection detained by a foreign state. It is the responsibility of the U.S. government to protect American citizens abroad. The administration’s disorganized approach to Pakistan has failed to convince Islamabad that we are serious about securing Davis’ release. An immediate, significant cut in aid to Pakistan might start to convince the Pakistani government of our intent—instead of mere threats of cuts astride budgetary requests for billions more in aid.
In a new Critical Threats Project