US defence secretary Leon Panetta criticises Pakistan for doctor's sentence

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

Defence secretary Leon Panetta has upped US criticism of Pakistan's jailing of a doctor who helped track down Osama bin Laden, suggesting it had hit efforts to steer diplomatic relations between Washington and Pakistan back on track.

Speaking on ABC's This Week, Panetta said the 33-year prison sentence handed to Shakil Afridi for treason was "so difficult to understand and so disturbing".

The physician ran a fake vaccination programme to collect the al-Qaida chief's DNA as part of a CIA scheme to prove he was living in the Abbottabad compound where he was eventually killed.

Last week, the US Senate committee retaliated for the sentencing by voting to cut Pakistan's aid by $1m for each of the 33 years handed down to Afridi.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/27/defence-secretary-leon-panetta-pakistan

[gmpierce]

1. lies and more lies.

You can find the link on your own -- but the reason for the harsh sentence was that the doctor participated in a US sponsored fake inoculation program as a way of checking out various residences to see if OBL was there.

That part never worked, but a number of children were given one shot when several were needed to provide immunity. Their parents thought they had been immunized when they hadn't.

The doctor's actual crime was malpractice with malice aforethought.

[EFerrari]

2. Why anyone would listen to "Rendition is a good tool" Panetta, I don't know. n/t

[David__77]

3. Using medical services as part of military operations?

I'm not saying that I oppose it, but it does set a precedent.