Lost in much of the typical nonsense one expects to hear from Snowden, there was the claim that these two signals intelligence agencies were actively engaged in spying on Pakistan. More specifically, Snowden claimed that the eavesdropping was conducted through an exploit in the Cisco routers employed by the Pakistanis.
As one would expect this statement was quickly picked up by the Pakistani press though the newspapers that covered the story didn’t offer any analysis or speculation almost as if the mere existence of the revelation was sensational enough. Perhaps the knowledge of such activities are simply expected even if they cannot always be prevented by the targeted state.
Unlike the revelations of NSA activities in the west, Pakistan didn’t summon the US and UK ambassadors over the incident. The Pakistani governments response couldn’t so much be described as muted, rather it was simply nonexistent.
Granted, the government in Islamabad has many pressing matters to deal with and such a revelation may not rise to the point that the Prime Minister would address it. The financial assistance that comes from the US and the UK may play a role as well, but Pakistan is a nation-state and espionage is to be expected. Especially since both the accused nations have troops engaged in Afghanistan. This isn’t to suggest that the Pakistanis don’t care, rather the situation is simply part of the larger, complicated relationship between all the players.
Read complete report here.
