Two key American political figures, whose inputs are valued highly by the Obama administration in the formulation of its policies Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Senator John Kerry and Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Mike Rogers have made comments that go against the previous US view of Pakistan being an ally, even designated as a 'non-NATO ally. If Senator Kerry says that the US wants Pakistan to become a real ally, Congressman Rogers feels the word 'ally may be too strong to describe the country. In both cases, the term ally does not apply to Pakistan. Well, to an impartial watcher of Pak-US relations, the observations have not come as a surprise; in fact, a section of media and certain political analysts in Pakistan have all along warned both the Musharraf regime and the present government not to fall a prey to the illusion of a long-lasting friendship with the US to which it has been vociferously committing itself. The fact is that the Americans have taken us for a ride, thanks to the obsequious attitude of Musharraf towards them and the PPP-led government that has crossed all bounds in an attempt to please them whose appetite for demands (do more) has turned out to be insatiable. The unchecked entry of a large number of US passport holders culminated in the shape of Raymond Davis, and the sneaky raid in Operation Geronimo, without the prior knowledge of the relevant Pakistani intelligence agency, damaged the trust existing between the two governments to the breaking point. Now comes John Kerry talking of 'a critical chance to move forward, for Pakistan to become a real ally in our efforts to combat terrorism. The idea is to pressurise Islamabad, now badly shaken by the violation of its sovereignty, into accepting all that the US demands it to do, even at the cost of its own national interests. The US may have serious questions, post-Osama episode, but Pakistan stands totally disenchanted and dismayed. There can only be one interpretation of the words uttered by both Kerry and Rogers to put to the fact that the US would not hesitate to launch a similar raid if they had credible intelligence to take Mulla Omar or Ayman Al-Zawahiri (who Rogers thinks is in Pakistan}. A new element of the US wish-list appearing in Senator Kerrys remark at Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, which he was visiting on Saturday reads: the US wants a Pakistan that is prepared to respect the interests of Afghanistan, as if we were working against Afghanistans interests. The fact that no policymaker in Pakistan can ever overlook, and we have repeatedly emphasised, is that the interests of both the neighbours, with a large population of Pashtuns, inevitably coincide. One would expect that our leadership firmly sticks to the position spelled out in the resolution passed by both the Houses of Parliament on Friday when it meets Senator Kerry visiting Pakistan to discuss the strained bilateral ties. There should be no compromise on sovereignty and national interests at any cost.