There's probably just one thing anyone can say with certainty about the U.S./ Pakistan relationship: It won't be getting simpler any time soon.

Today, for instance, Pakistani news outlets ratcheted up tensions between the two nations--which have been battered badly in the wake of the May 1 raid on the compound that quartered Osama bin Laden--by revealing the name of the alleged CIA station chief in Islamabad. In Washington, meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers issued a series of letters demanding more accountability for the billions of dollars in assistance the United States gives to Pakistan's military.
Key lawmakers, including Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Rep. Howard Berman (D-Ca), the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, circulated the letters, which also raise concerns about Pakistan's commitment to fighting terrorism. The missives stop short of threatening an outright cut in U.S. assistance--another tacit reminder that however fraught things may be at the moment in the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, both parties are stuck with each other for awhile.
Noting the $20 billion in U.S. civilian and military assistance to Pakistan since 2001, Berman-a key co-author of the Pakistan aid legislation--wrote Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: ""However, according to recent documents ... certain elements of the Pakistani defense and intelligence establishments continue to provide direct and indirect support to groups that directly threaten the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan's own stability."" Berman said he would like to engage the administration further on how to improve relations with Pakistan ""while also ensuring accountability,"" he wrote.
""The discovery of Osama Bin Laden in a military town less than forty miles from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad indicates, at a minimum, a lack of commitment by the Pakistani government to aggressive cooperation with the United States,"" Sen. Menendez wrote in a separate letter to Clinton and Defense Secretary Bob Gates.
Menendez also questioned the scale of the current assistance package for Pakistan, noting that after Afghanistan, the country is the second largest recipient of U.S. assistance, including $4.7 billion in U.S. aid and reimbursements in fiscal year 2010.
However, U.S. South Asia hands warned that while threatening to cut Pakistan's aid may make for good domestic political rhetoric, an actual aid reduction could have disastrous consequences for U.S. efforts in Afghanistan and the region.
""Cutting off (aid to) Pakistan would be a great strategy if killing (Osama bin Laden) was the (one) piece of business we had in South Asia,"" one U.S. official working on the issue told The Envoy, speaking on condition of anonymity, and with evident sarcasm and frustration. ""Provided,"" he continued, ""we are willing to wash off our hands of the Afghan war, and accept being cut-off from further access to counter-terrorism opportunities.""
None of this means, of course, that either country is happy with the status quo. White House National Security Adviser Tom Donilon also made the rounds on the Sunday TV news shows to discuss U.S. efforts to gain access to bin Laden's three widows, who are all reportedly in Pakistani custody.
These intrigues are complicated by the Pakistani press' naming of the CIA station chief in Islamabad--information that the media in Pakistan presumably got from the Pakistani security services, annoyed over the U.S. unilateral action against bin Laden. (A former U.S. official told The Envoy that the Pakistani media had misspelled the U.S. officer's name slightly.)
This is the second time in five months the name of the alleged CIA station chief has been exposed in Pakistan. The U.S. pulled the last CIA station chief from Islamabad in December, after he received threats after being named in a Pakistani court case--again, presumably, with a nod of approval from the Pakistani spy agency.
The CIA declined to comment on the latest case of exposure of the alleged station chief. But a U.S. official said there were no plans to remove the officer from Pakistan at this point.
""The current CIA station chief is a true pro, someone who knows how to work well with foreign partners and is looking to strengthen cooperation with Pakistani intelligence,"" the official said.
President Barack Obama struck a patient note as he recounted the complexities of joint U.S.-Pakistani counterterrorism efforts in his ""60 Minutes"" interview Sunday. But he, too, took a pointed--if somewhat indirect--swipe at Pakistan Monday: the White House sent out a notice stressing its sunny relationship with India--Pakistan's feared regional arch-rival.
""President Obama spoke with Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh this morning to discuss the successful American action against Osama Bin Laden and to review progress in implementing the initiatives launched during the President's November 2010 visit to India,"" the White House said in a readout of an apparent Obama phone call with his Indian counterpart, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
""The two leaders re-affirmed their commitment to building a global, strategic partnership, including defense cooperation, and looked forward to the upcoming meetings of the Strategic Dialogue, the Homeland Security Dialogue, the Joint Space Working Group, and the High-Technology Cooperation Group,"" the statement continued. The readout didn't note whether the two leaders complained about recent events in Pakistan--but then again, it really didn't need to.
One U.S. Defense official lamented that Pakistan's two-sided support for some jihadis militants attacking U.S. interests while cooperating with the United States in going after other targets has the effect of driving Washington away.
The Pakistanis are ""dooming the relationship"" by their actions, the official said.
(Source: The Envoy