When someone asked the devious General Zia-ul-Haq if he was going to kill the tallest politician whom he had just deposed in a coup d’état (ironically called, Operation Fairplay), he answered half-sincerely, “Mein Bhutto Sahib ko kaisey maar sakta hoon? Woh to merey mohsin hain.” (How can I kill Bhutto Sahib? He is my benefactor).
But the folks who had tracked Zia’s trajectory to power knew better than to believe the wily General and the streets of Pakistan were agog with slogans like, "Amrika ne kutta palla, vardi walla vardi walla" (Americans have a loyal dog, the one in uniform, the one in uniform) implying that the Americans would invariably let the dodgy General have his way, as long as it furthered American interests.