New information from Afghan officials and American military officers reveal that Pakistanis opened fire on Americans in May of 2007, resulting in the death of an American major. Three other American officers were wounded. There was little news on the attack—Washington has instead played down or “ignored signals that Pakistan would pursue its own interest, or even sometimes behave as an enemy,” New York Times reporter Carlotta Gall writes. The attacks were first blamed on Pakistani militants, though, on further investigation, a rogue soldier was to blame. There is still no formal clarification of who carried out the attack, or why it was done, the Times reports. Says one former U.N. official familiar with the events: “The official line covered over the details in the interests of keeping the relationship with Pakistan intact.”
