On Feb. 17, two days before news broke of an “agreement” for the US General Services Administration to team up with the Pakistani government to redevelop the Roosevelt Hotel , Pakistan’s Muhammad Ali, an advisor to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, had this to say on Pakistani news station AAJ: The Roosevelt “will be privatized through a joint-venture or redevelopment model rather than a direct sale,” Ali said. He envisioned a “joint venture” where Pakistan would “contribute the land while a