Pakistan Doctor Who Helped Capture Bin Laden Sentenced To 33 Years UPDATE:

If there was any doubt that Pakistan knew about and harbored Osama Bin Laden for all those years in Abbottabad, set those doubts aside, because it's quite obvious they sympathized with one of the world's most infamous terrorists. They've always shown anger and disapproval over the killing of Bin Laden, and now they've sentenced Shakil Afridi, the doctor who was instrumental in capturing Bin Laden, to 33 years in jail for high treason. A man who should have been honored for helping rid the world of an incredibly evil man is instead being severely punished.

According to a Pakistani official, Nasir Khan, he has also been fined around $3,500, and if he doesn't pay up 3 1/2 years will be added to his sentence.

The U.S., of course, has asked for his release, and the State Department's Victoria Nuland said of the situation,

“Our views on it haven’t changed. We continue to see no basis for Dr. Afridi to be held,” Nuland said. “We will continue to make those representations to the government of Pakistan.”

When asked why she only referred to Afridi’s charges and did not acknowledge his actual conviction and sentencing, Nuland said: “It’s not clear that the legal process is over, OK? There may be other options for him legally.”

Since Afridi was charged with treason last year, the U.S. has been trying to get Pakistan to allow the good doctor and his family to come to the states, obviously to no avail. John McCain-R and Carl Levin-D of the Senate Ared Services Committee both have called the sentence "shocking and outrageous" and want him pardoned and released immediately.

“Dr. Afridi’s continuing imprisonment and treatment as a criminal will only do further harm to U.S.-Pakistani relations, including diminishing Congress’s willingness to provide financial assistance to Pakistan,” they warned.

Not that Pakistan cares. They've been pulling the proverbial fleece over our eyes for years, pretending to be allies when they're really not. They're no better than the terrorists they seem to aid and abet.

UPDATE: 5/31/12  Now Pakistan is claiming it had nothing to do with his CIA affiliation, but rather his alleged ties to militants.  Like that's believable.

Pakistan Doctor Who Helped CIA Find Bin Laden Charged With Treason

Instead of being hailed as a hero, the Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA in its hunt to kill Osama Bin Laden will be  charged with 'high treason'.  So says a government commission assigned to investigate the U.S. operation that ultimately killed Bin Laden. Dr. Shakil Afridi, who set up a vaccination programme that was tasked with trying to get DNA samples from Bin Laden family members, could face the death penalty for ridding the world of the most wanted man on the planet. But it's quite obvious the Pakistanis see things quite differently. 

I'm sure a lot of the anger has to do with the fact that the Bin Laden raid was a covert operation that took the Pakistanis by surprise, and the panel was more than likely set up to save face for their monumental ineptitude.  But had the government been apprised of the situation, Bin Laden would probably still be alive somewhere today.  Pakistan's spy agency- Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has oft been accused of supporting the Taliban's Haqqani Network, and I would venture to say it was well aware of Bin Laden's residency in Abbottabad. His fortified mansion was smack dab in the middle of a military town, and approximately 75 from Islamabad, the capital. And yet he lived there for five years!  How could they not have known?  We finally caught up with him after ten long years,  but rest assured  it took that long to find him because the Pakistanis wanted it that way.

Thankfully there are some, like the good doctor, willing to put their lives on the line to rid the world of terrorism.  But most Pakistanis are perfectly content to live alongside the violence, embracing their backwards Sharia law and their Blasphemy law, and taking steps back into the dark ages alongside their Afghan brothers. 

They are not our friends, and yet we continue to send them aid, and that's not likely to change any time soon.

Who knows what will happen to Afridi and his family. The U.S. has been attempting to pressure the Pakistanis into letting them come to the U.S. but,  so far, they'd rather charge him with treason.

Sources: Al Jazeera, CNN, GuardianUK