Working with Pakistan is a strategic necessity for the United States, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday, even as she pressed Islamabad to act more decisively on counter-terrorism. Praising Pakistan as "a good partner" in global efforts to fight terrorism, Clinton sought to blunt US anger at the discovery that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden lived there for years before US commandos killed him in a raid on May 2. US lawmakers, sceptical that Pakistani officials did not know of bin Laden's
presence, want to cut US aid to Pakistan, which the White House views as vital to counter-terrorism and to hopes of stabilising neighboring Afghanistan.
Clinton acknowledged that the two countries have disagreed on how hard to fight al Qaeda, Afghan Taliban fighters and other militants, but made clear she saw no choice but to work with Pakistan, saying it would overcome "these near-term challenges".
Among those challenges is Pakistan's decision to tell the United States to halve the number of military trainers stationed in the country, the latest sign of growing distrust.
"We do have a set of expectations that we are looking for the Pakistani government to meet but I want to underscore, in conclusion, that it is not as though they have been on the sidelines," Clinton told a news conference in Paris.
"They have been actively engaged in their own bitter fight with these terrorist extremists. The killing of bin Laden by US special forces in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad has sparked a wave of militant attacks.
"There have been times when we have had disagreements. There have been times when we've wanted to push harder and for various reasons they have not. Those differences are real. They will continue," Clinton said.
"But the fact of the matter is that the international community has been able to kill more terrorists on Pakistani soil than any place else in the world," she added. "We could not have done that without Pakistani cooperation."
She appeared to be referring to US drone attacks and covert action against militants, which Pakistani authorities have publicly denounced in response to public hostility, but privately condoned, according to Western officials.
"I believe strongly it is in our national security interest to have a
comprehensive, long-term partnership with the government and people of Pakistan," Clinton said. Some security analysts make the case that a half-hearted Pakistani partner is better than none.
"Despite this affront (bin Laden's presence in Pakistan), the United States should recognise the importance of maintaining Pakistan as an unpalatable friend rather than an implacable adversary or, worse, seeing it tumble toward becoming a failed state," the Washington-based Center for a New American Security think-tank said in an analysis this month.
Among other things, the United States wants Pakistan to help promote reconciliation in Afghanistan so as to help the United States begin to withdraw US
troops in July and completely handoff security responsibility to Afghans in 2014.
Mullen arrives News Desk
LAHORE: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen reached Pakistan on Thursday. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will also arrive in the country on Friday. Both the leaders will meet the Pakistani military and civil leadership. Various top-ranking US officials have visited Pakistan after the Abbottabad operation on May 2.
News International (Rawalpindi), May 27, 2011, http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=6265&Cat=13&dt=5/27/2011
0 comments:
Post a Comment