ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — Many Pakistanis welcomed the election of President Obama as an opportunity for some fresh thinking about their troubled region.
But the honeymoon hasn't lasted long. As Obama prepares to meet with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai this week in Washington, Pakistanis from different walks of life say they'd give the U.S. leader an earful if they, rather than their president, had a seat at the White House table.
One of their biggest complaints: the deadly drones, the hugely unpopular unmanned aircraft that are involved in spying and firing on suspected "high value" militants on Pakistani soil.
"These drones are very bad," said Ashraf Bhatti, an apparel merchant, drinking tea in his shop with several friends in the Anjuman bazaar in Lahore. "What would America think if someone started shooting rockets and killing people in their land?"
Though the CIA has apparently gotten better at hitting its targets without killing as many innocent civilians, the anger and resentment remain so great, some here argue, that America loses far more in goodwill than it gains in assassinated militants.
"It just hits everyday people like us," said Mohammed Yasin, a retired shopkeeper, wearing a white beard and traditional shalwar kameez outfit.
Some Pakistanis said they would be less distrustful of U.S. motives and objectives if Washington put a quick end to its "Af-Pak" terminology, strategy and mind-set.
The American approach is meant to combine policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan in a single cohesive plan. But people here say that although the region may look like one big mess from afar, there's a world of difference between themselves and their neighbors to the west.
Pakistan, they say, is a proper nation with a functioning government, respected universities, a long-standing legal tradition and a vibrant arts tradition. Afghanistan is a land without much in the way of law, government or other conventional definitions of a nation, some contend.
"The majority of Pakistanis really don't want to be put in the same category," said Abid Sulehri, head of Islamabad's Sustainable Development Policy Institute. "It's very bad if they continue to use that term."
At the same time, many here remain deeply critical of their own government, which is seen as slow, corrupt and woefully negligent in bringing basic education, electricity, roads and jobs to its people.
