Azam Khalil "Ambassadors are the eye and ear of states." Guicciardini The US, instead of cleaning up its act, is now actively trying to control the damage done its image after the WikiLeaks disclosures. As the WikiLeaks saga continues to unfold, it is bringing forth damning evidence against several political leaders, including those who are known to stand for the principles of humanity. An equally serious expos by the website against our neighbour, India, is the murder of its Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Chief Helmand Karkare, who died in mysterious circumstances during the Mumbai incident, which the Indians had tried to pin on Pakistan. It is now revealed that he was murdered by Hindu extremist backed by Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP). Several top leaders of the BJP, including L.K. Advani and Rajpath, had called Karkare a traitor before he was killed. However, after the leaked information, a top Indian congressman Digvijay Singh, who is also the General Secretary of the party, disclosed that three hours before Karkare died he had a telephonic conversation with him. According to Singh, the chief had said that he had been receiving life threats from apparent Hindu extremists in connection with his Malegaon blast investigations, and feared that he might be killed. Hence, this cable has exposed the Indian administration, and more specifically the Congress Party, which according to the US Ambassador in India, had used the Mumbai incident for political mileage by distorting the facts. This expose has also nailed the Indians for their propaganda against Pakistans intelligence agency, ISI, as they had blamed it for the Mumbai attack. One wonders, if the Pakistani leadership after the exposure has any plans to take up the issue with the Indian government and also the US administration, so that the world can know the truth about the 26/11 mayhem. And if the Indians are involved in it, they should be fully exposed before the international community. Anyway, Pakistan should take some relief in the cables that have quoted David Mulford, former US Ambassador to India, who has accused the Congress Party of playing religious-based politics. He alleged that the party in power made no efforts to support the minorities, especially the Muslims, who are unfairly targeted by the Indian law enforcement agencies. Another critical issue leaked, which needs to be probed is the claim by the US Ambassador to Pakistan, Anne Patterson, that US special forces soldiers have been secretly embedded with Pakistani military forces in the tribal belt, helping to hunt down Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters and co-ordinate drone strikes. Although this has been denied by GHQ, but a categorical denial is yet to be made by the US Embassy in Pakistan that would eventually clear the air of what the Leaks has disclosed. In case, the US continues to dither on this issue, serious questions will be raised on the authorities, who allowed such an arrangement, (if they indeed did?) with the Americans, who are considered to be anything, except friendly by a majority of the Pakistani people. This issue is extremely important because our leadership, both civil and military, has been very categorical about not allowing any foreign forces to operate within Pakistan. Now the US has sent Michael J. Morrell to carry out the damage control after the leaked information. It probably believes that the exposure of such documents will cause serious damage to their relations with some of the countries, which are extremely important as far as its strategic interests are concerned. The Obama administration is now desperately trying to rebuild trust between the US and Pakistan, and some other countries that have been seriously damaged by these leaks. The US indeed recognises the importance of Pakistan, as its support is essential for the NATO forces if they are to win against the Taliban in Afghanistan. In case the trust deficit widens between Pakistan and the US, it will be extremely difficult for the occupation troops in order to have a face-saving exit from Afghanistan. It is interesting to note that the Government of Pakistan has rejected the leaks that have mentioned about the general behaviour of its politicians. It has even condemned the leaks, which were written by the US Ambassadors posted in countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE and Turkey. This is in sharp contrast to what the US President Barack Obama was doing on the issue of the WikiLeaks. He called the websites action in publishing Americas secret documents as deplorable, and was trying to reduce the harm caused by it by directly calling on world leaders in an effort to maintain USAs productive relations with the international community. States like Australia, Germany and Italy, along with certain Scandinavian countries, have already decided to revise their standard diplomatic procedures ensuring that such a fiasco should not occur again as far as their countries are concerned. As for Pakistan, it is better for the present political dispensation to admit that some of its high ranking officials, according to the leaks, had indulged in loose gossip with the US Ambassador to solicit favours. To avoid this in future, it should ensure that they follow proper procedures, instead of taking shortcut methods, because this could leave a stigma on their faces for the rest of their lives. The writer is a freelance columnist. Email: zarnatta@hotmail.com