The State Department remains tight-lipped on the role of the American man recently arrested in Pakistan for murder. The man in question, Raymond Davis, was suspected of being a spy. The Obama administration claimed that Davis had diplomatic immunity and should be set free from Pakistani custody. Last Friday, P.J. Crowley, State Department Spokesman would only say to The Takeaway that Davis is a U.S. Diplomat entitled to diplomatic immunity. You can hear that interview here. But reports out yesterday confirm that Davis was working in a part of a C.I.A. team, as an independent contractor. Either way, what does the case of Raymond Davis mean for the U.S. Pakistan relationship? Art Keller, former case officer for the CIA, who worked in Pakistan in 2006 thinks that Davis may have been protecting a C.I.A. case worker and if he was, should be viewed as a hero.
Marvin Weinbaum, scholar in residence at the Middle-East-Institute and former State Department Analyst on Pakistan and Afghanistan, says the new information about Davis does not change the basic international premise behind diplomatic immunity and that Davis should be sent back home. Weinbaum says we’ll have to wait and see if a Pakistani court agrees. We’ll find out whether Davis will be tried for murder by March 14th, when the court must hand down its decision to either let Davis go home or to make him stand trial.
Below: Art Keller, former case officer for the CIA, sent this cartoon picture of CIA case officer “sleuth” being protected by GRS officers during the hunt for “WMD.” While the search was frustrating and futile, the role of the Global Response Staff (GRS) was still important, keeping the “sleuth” safe. Raymond Davis was GRS.