It also helped keep the Pakistani people sufficiently hostile toward any notion of understanding or appreciating the West's genuine and legitimate concerns and interests in Pakistan.
They acknowledge that privacy and data theft are legitimate concerns in a pervasively connected environment, but they feel it is already too late to stop the juggernaut of change.
Despite disagreement on the substance of this issue, the Russian official says the United States recognizes that Russia has legitimate concerns and has offered proposals to eliminate or allay them.
