Worldview: Former ambassador's plight reflects decline of U.S.-Pakistan ties

The scary decline of relations between the United States and Pakistan - the world's most dangerous nuclear-armed country - is illustrated by the perilous plight of one man.

Husain Haqqani was, until recently, the savvy and energetic Pakistani ambassador to Washington, dubbed by Bloomberg "the hardest working man in DC." His job was thankless: trying to maintain ties between two countries that deeply distrust each other.

Pakistan's military disliked Haqqani because of his long-standing opposition to its ties with Islamist groups. (He wrote the best book on the subject.) He was also regarded as too "pro-American." But the generals apparently recognized that only someone like Haqqani could ease tensions with Washington and keep the U.S. aid flowing.

So they let him keep working to prevent U.S.-Pakistani ties from breaking. Until now.

Haqqani has resigned and returned home. He's accused by the military and the media - no formal charges - of drafting an unsigned memo asking Washington in May to help block a military coup in Pakistan. In return, Pakistan's civilian government supposedly would have cracked down on its military and ISI intelligence agency.

Haqqani is forbidden to leave the country, and could be charged with treason. But the "Memogate" affair is so bizarre, one has to ask whether it's merely a pretext for the Pakistani military to unseat the civilian government and rupture ties with the United States.

The more details that emerge about this alleged scandal, the more fishy it looks. A Pakistani American businessman named Mansoor Ijaz passed the memo to President Obama's former national security adviser, Jim Jones, in May 2011; Jones gave it to Adm. Mike Mullen, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Ijaz ignited the firestorm by writing about the memo in the Financial Times in October. He says he was following Haqqani's instructions to convey a message from Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari; he claims he has text messages that back up his story. But the tale is full of holes.

Haqqani denies he had anything to do with the memo. Jones denies Ijaz ever mentioned Haqqani. And Mullen says he paid the unsigned document no attention. But even putting all that aside, the story makes no sense.