WASHINGTON POST: …Those observers say the change is being driven by a Pakistani middle class that is now more supportive of American drone strikes — which have declined precipitously in recent years — particularly since a school massacre by the Taliban that killed about 150 students and teachers in December. And as conflict spreads in the Middle East, there is a growing recognition in Pakistan that sectarian violence in Muslim countries isn’t all driven by the United States. The Obama administration’s efforts to quietly rebuild relationships here are starting to have an effect, analysts say.
“You now don’t even see the usual firebrands coming up with standard anti-American declarations,” said Ayaz Amir, a political commentator and former lawmaker. “There is a sense we have to deal with our own problems, and it is up to us how we handle those problems, and I think anti-Americanism, really, no longer seems that relevant.”…
[A] Pew Research Center poll released in August showed a significant decline in the percentage of Pakistanis who held negative views of the United States — still a majority at 59 percent, but down from 80 percent two years earlier… (more)
