Background:
Mullen
Lashes At ISI
·
Relations between Pakistan and the US
have been volatile throughout the year (OBL incident + drone strikes) but they
took an unexpected dive after Admiral Mike Mullen’s (American Joint Chiefs of
Staff) congressional testimony implicating the Inter-Service Intelligence
directorate in the Haqqani network’s deadly breach of security in what is
deemed to be the safest part of Kabul (attack on the US embassy at Kabul on September
13th).
·
Undoubtedly this is a swift initiative
by the US to the rock bottom in their relations with the potential to actualize
into direct punitive actions on a wide spectrum spanning multifaceted military,
diplomatic, economic and psychological fronts.
·
The irony of the USA’s approach is that
while strategically on the retreat, having declared the dilution of military
presence in Afghanistan, and contingent upon crafting a viable pro-US
dispensation in the region, it is operationally adopting a belligerent attitude
towards Pakistan especially FATA which holds the key to peace in Afghanistan.
Some
statements from the US high-ups
US can prove Pakistan’s
ties with Haqqanis – Cameron Munter (the US ambassador to Islamabad). White house backs Mike Mullens allegations,
“It is critical that the government of Pakisatn breaks any links they have and
take strong action against the Haqqani network.” White House spokesman Jay
Carney told a briefing in Washington.
Pakistan’s
response
·
Gilani cautions US on negative messaging
·
US boots not to be tolerated in
Pakistan- Rehman Malik
·
Mullen’s statement not based on facts-
General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani
·
Pakistan never backed Haqqani Network-
Lt. General Ahmed Shuja Pasha
·
Foreign Office stresses respect for sovereignty
– Tehmina Janjua (FO spokesperson)
·
Gilani mobilizes the political parties
of Pakistan to attend APC (All Party’s Conference)
Diplomacy underway to
de-escalate crisis
·
General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani met
Admiral Mike Mullen in Seville (Spain).
·
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar had a
lengthy discussion with US Secretary of the State Hillary Clinton in New York.
·
Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir had a
talk with US envoy to Afghanistan Marc Grossman and with the US ambassador to
Pakistan, Cameron Munter in Islamabad.
·
ISI Chief Shuja Pasha met CIA Director
Petraeus.
·
APC (55 leaders representing various
shades of opinion confirmed participation) –
13 point resolution ‘stress on peace
with our own people’.
What
Next… (Future of ties with the US)
The political and
defence analysts hold divergent views with regards to the future of Pak-US
ties. The anti-Americanism is prevailing in Pakistan. The best possible
solution is to invite the US to the negotiation table and let us talk peace! We
need to make the Americans realize now that they are not fighting a specific
insurgency (i.e Haqqanis or Talibans), but an entire Afghan nation; they are
fighting the Afghan people! It is about time the Taliban’s legitimate national
aspirations be respected and their moral and political rights recognized in an
independent Afghanistan.
For that the 13-point
resolution passed by the APC should be implemented in letter and spirit,
Pakistan has to ensure regional stability in South Asia after USA’s exit from
Afghanistan and for that reason it has to strengthen ties with all its
neighbours, Afghanistan being the most important one!
_______________________
What’s
going on in the U.S? (Economic recession…)
NEW YORK- Protests against Wall Street
entered their 18th day on October 5 as demonstrators across the country showed
their anger over the wobbly economy and what they see as corporate greed by
marching on Federal Reserve banks and camping out.
Demonstrations are expected to continue throughout the week as more groups hold organizational meetings and air their concerns on websites and through streaming video.
Demonstrations are expected to continue throughout the week as more groups hold organizational meetings and air their concerns on websites and through streaming video.
A slice of America`s discontented, from college students worried
about their job prospects to middle-age workers who have been recently laid
off, were galvanized after the arrests of 700 protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge
over the weekend. Some protesters likened themselves to the tea party movement
but with a liberal bent or to the Arab Spring demonstrators who brought down
their rulers in the Middle East.
Iranian President Ahmadinejad TAGS Wall Street Protests as the ‘AMERICAN
SPRING’
Panetta warns Nato US won`t be able to fill defence gaps The US military faces
serious budget cuts and will be unable to make up any shortfalls in the Nato
alliance as European members slash defence spending, Pentagon chief Leon
Panetta warned on October 6.
Fiscal
pressures are bearing down on both sides of the Atlantic and Nato allies will
need to work closely together to pool funds, instead of counting on America`s
much larger defence spending to close the gap, Panetta said.
`As for the United States, many might assume that the United States defence budget is so large it can absorb and cover alliance shortcomings but make no mistake about it, we are facing dramatic cuts with real implications for alliance capability,` the US defence secretary said in a speech in Brussels.Panetta delivered his warning ahead of talks with Nato counterparts in Brussels, centred on the missions in Libya and Afghanistan as well as the shortcomings the alliance has witnessed in carrying out the operations.
Although US defence spending far exceeds European budgets, Panetta said American military leaders were facing $450 billion in cuts over 10 years, which he called `tough but manageable.` But if the US Congress fails to tackle the country`s deficit this year, the Pentagon `could face additional cuts in defense ... (that) would be devastating to our national security and to yours as well.` The cuts contemplated by the Pentagon would reduce the size of the force and curtail some weapons programmes, but the gargantuan US defence budget at nearly $700 billion still dwarfs that of the 27 other Nato members combined.
`As for the United States, many might assume that the United States defence budget is so large it can absorb and cover alliance shortcomings but make no mistake about it, we are facing dramatic cuts with real implications for alliance capability,` the US defence secretary said in a speech in Brussels.Panetta delivered his warning ahead of talks with Nato counterparts in Brussels, centred on the missions in Libya and Afghanistan as well as the shortcomings the alliance has witnessed in carrying out the operations.
Although US defence spending far exceeds European budgets, Panetta said American military leaders were facing $450 billion in cuts over 10 years, which he called `tough but manageable.` But if the US Congress fails to tackle the country`s deficit this year, the Pentagon `could face additional cuts in defense ... (that) would be devastating to our national security and to yours as well.` The cuts contemplated by the Pentagon would reduce the size of the force and curtail some weapons programmes, but the gargantuan US defence budget at nearly $700 billion still dwarfs that of the 27 other Nato members combined.
US army
has discipline problem, says general The US Army`s top commander
in Europe says discipline among soldiers is a problem that if not addressed
could become `cancerous.
Lt Gen Mark Hertling told a small group of reporters on October 8 that only a small percentage of soldiers lack proper discipline, but he stressed his concern that it be fixed, now that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down and more troops are returning to their home bases.
Lt Gen Mark Hertling told a small group of reporters on October 8 that only a small percentage of soldiers lack proper discipline, but he stressed his concern that it be fixed, now that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down and more troops are returning to their home bases.
Pak
– US ties -- a glimpse
Background:
·
Intense US pressure during the past
week.
·
There was an exchange of assertive
opinions between the intelligence-services of both the countries.
Some
statements:
Military aid linked with
`cooperation`, says US embassy
·
A spokesman
for the US Embassy, Mark Stroh said on October 5 that military assistance
to Pakistan had not been cut off, but suspended. He said the security
assistance would be based on `cooperation`
between the two countries. The military assistance to Pakistan includes the
Coalition Support Fund (CSF) and the Pakistan Capacity Building Fund (PCBF). Mr. Stroh said the US assistance for civilian side,
including in energy and other sectors, would continue.
·
Inter-Services
Public Relations director-general Maj-Gen Athar Abbas also confirmed that the US had suspended military assistance to
Pakistan, but had not conveyed it in black and white.
·
He
said the US had also suspended the $7 billion Kerry-Lugar package under which
only $300 million had been released against a commitment of $1.5 billion per
year for the five-year package. A joint working group on military and capacity building
assistance was to meet on May 2 this year, but the meeting was called off
because of US operation in Abbottabad the same day.
No mediatory role for India in Afghanistan: US
·
India
has no mediatory role in Afghanistan, said the US State Department as
Defence Secretary Leon Panetta expressed the desire to build a `cooperative and trusting` relationship
with Pakistan. `With regard to playing a mediating role, I don`t think that`s
what we`re looking for here. We do believe this trilateral structure is of
value and we should continue its’ State Department spokesperson Victoria
Nuland said when asked if India could play a mediatory role in Afghanistan.
·
The
trilateral structure she referred to includes the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan
and senior US envoy Mark Grossman is currently visiting the region to help
arrange the next meeting of this forum, scheduled on Nov 1-2 in Turkey.
·
Mr.
Grossman also plans to visit New Delhi for talks on Afghanistan but Miss Nuland
said the US had no plan to ask India to attend the trilateral talks. The State
Department official said the US was also supporting `any and all warming
between Pakistan and India` but it did not extend to offering India a formal
mediatory role in Afghanistan.
Pakistan must protect US interests, says Obama
·
President Barack Obama warned on October 7 that the United States
would not feel comfortable in a long-term strategic relationship with Pakistan
if it did not protect US interests as well.
·
In a 90-minute news conference at the White House, the US leader
focused mainly on domestic issues, chiding banks, showing irritation with the
Wall Street and urging lawmakers to help him create jobs.
·
This was Mr Obama`s first news conference since his former
military chief Admiral Mike Mullen told a Senate hearing two weeks ago that
Pakistan was encouraging the Haqqani network of militants to attack US and Nato
targets in Afghanistan.
·
President Obama`s remarks, however, show that those lobbying for
Pakistan `have their work cut out for them, as a senior Pakistani diplomat
said. `With respect to Pakistan ... my number one goal is to make sure that Al
Qaeda cannot attack the US homeland and cannot affect US interests around the
world, Mr Obama said. `And we have done an outstanding job, I think, in going
after, directly, Al Qaeda in this border region between Pakistan and
Afghanistan.
·
To ease tensions between the two countries, the US had tried to
get conversations between Afghans and Pakistanis going more effectively than
they have been in the past, he said. `But we`ve still got more work to do.
‘10 years of war’ Obama
vows to implement his Afghan plan
·
On the 10th anniversary of the US military campaign in Afghanistan
(October 7), President Barack Obama told his nation that he was ending the
Afghan war responsibly.
·
The war in Afghanistan became America`s longest military
engagement ever but most Americans were still debating what should be the best
strategy for bringing that war to an end.
·
In a statement issued by his office, Mr Obama pledged to implement
his plans for turning over Afghanistan`s security to the Afghans themselves by
2014. `After a difficult decade, we are responsibly ending today`s wars from a
position of strength,` Mr Obama said. `As the rest of our troops come home from
Iraq this year, we have begun to draw down our forces in Afghanistan and
transition security to the Afghan people, with whom we will forge an enduring
partnership,` he said.
·
Afghan deaths were not reliably counted in the first years of the
war. But the UN says 11,221 civilians have been killed since 2006, 1,462 of
them in the first six months of this year. The costs both in lives and dollars
are influencing the public opinion as well. A recent CBS News poll found that
nearly 6 in 10 Americans say the United States should not be involved in
Afghanistan, a sharp turnaround from as recently as two years ago, when a
majority supported the US mission there. Almost 7 in 10 people say the war has
gone on longer than they expected.
·
A recent Pew Research opinion poll suggests that one in three US
veterans of the post-9/11 military believes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
were not worth fighting, and a majority think that after 10 years of combat
America should be focusing more on its own problem.
·
Another Washington Post Pew Research Centre poll finds a 44 per
cent plurality of Americans support for Obama`s plan to withdraw combat troops
from Afghanistan by 2014. Roughly three in 10 say he is not withdrawing quickly
enough and 14 per cent say he is moving too quickly.
Ties with Pakistan vital
to security, says US
·
Ties with Pakistan remained vital to US national security, the
White House said on October 8 as the State Department pledged to continue to
work with Islamabad to defeat terrorism.
·
`The cooperation we have with Pakistan is extremely important in
terms of our national security objectives, in terms of protecting Americans, in
terms of taking the fight to Al Qaeda, White House Press Secretary Jay
Carney told a briefing in Washington.
Karzai asks US to step up
pressure on Pakistan
·
Afghan President Hamid Karzai held talks with the US envoy for
the region, Marc Grossman, in Kabul on October 8 just days after President
Barack Obama warned Pakistan there were `some connections` between its
intelligence services and the militants.
·
`The Afghan president asked Mr. Grossman to put more pressure on
Pakistan so that future meetings with them should bring a positive result, one
official at the presidential palace said.
·
Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, long mired in
distrust, have recently deteriorated with Kabul alleging that the murder of its
peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani was plotted in Pakistan and carried out by a
Pakistani.
Negotiations with Taliban US encouraging Karzai to
seek Pakistan`s help
·
US officials support Afghan President Hamid Karzai`s call for
engaging the Taliban through Pakistan, The Washington Post reported on October
9 amid speculations that Washington and Islamabad are once again warming up to
each other after unprecedented tensions.
·
Instead of dealing with `shadow intermediaries`, Mr Karzai wants
to pursue reconciliation `in a way that`s more focused with established
interlocutors, which the government of Pakistan would be one. We welcome that`,
a senior US official told the Post.
·
Diplomatic sources in Washington told Dawn that as the first
concrete step towards engaging Pakistan, the United States was encouraging
Afghanistan to convene a meeting of a joint peace commission, established in
June.
Conclusion/ Analysis
We have seen
10 years of going nowhere on one side of the border and 10 of going backwards
on the other: back to bloodshed, back to civil chaos. It`s simplistic to say
that Afghanistan doesn`t matter. You might as well say that the100 years of war
that scarred medieval Europe didn`t matter. The real victim of Bush`s great
9/11 folly is Pakistan. It might have
been a buoyant nation today, joining India and China at world economic forums.
A decade ago General Musharraf was Pakistan`s new man on top of the heap.
Its sense of grievance may be unappealing. The preoccupation with India, the futile attachment to Kashmir, the hapless swings between corrupt democracy and army autocracy are all heavy burdens. Yet the message of public opinion, in its bewilderment, cannot be ignored. For three decades of Afghan tumult, Pakistan has been blown hither and yon by outside imbecilities. And 10 full years after 9/11, it is the heaviest casualty of them all.
A decade ago General Musharraf was Pakistan`s new man on top of the heap.
Its sense of grievance may be unappealing. The preoccupation with India, the futile attachment to Kashmir, the hapless swings between corrupt democracy and army autocracy are all heavy burdens. Yet the message of public opinion, in its bewilderment, cannot be ignored. For three decades of Afghan tumult, Pakistan has been blown hither and yon by outside imbecilities. And 10 full years after 9/11, it is the heaviest casualty of them all.
A recent
report by the government-funded US Institute of Peace (USIP) pointed out
that the Pakistanis were not sure how the Americans wanted to shape the
end-game in Afghanistan.
`Pakistani elite believe that the US would continue to push the
Pakistan military to `do more` to stamp out militant sanctuaries while it tries
to open up direct channels for talks with the Taliban with an eye on reducing
reliance on Pakistan`s security establishment in the political and reconciliation
process, the report noted.
Who
is saying what about the US?
|
The protests on Wall
Street and elsewhere in the United States will grow to `mark the downfall
of the West,` Iran`s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on
Oct 12.
`This issue in America is very important, Khamenei said in a public speech broadcast on Iranian state television. `What they are calling the Wall Street movement has excited the people and is an important issue, which they (the US media) have tried to downplay, he told a crowd in the western city of Kermanshah. |
Pak-US
ties
Background:
The US persistently urged Pakistan to ‘cooperate’ in
order to protect US interests in Afghanistan, during the past week.
Some
statements:
Clinton says US open to
discussing peace deal with Haqqanis
·
On October 12 two powerful
US officials secretaries of state and defence had acknowledged Pakistan`s
pivotal role in a negotiated settlement in Afghanistan, and one of them even
stressed the need to reach out to the Haqqani network.
·
`The reality is that we cannot resolve the issues of Afghanistan
without resolving the issues of Pakistan,` said Defence Secretary Leon
Panetta.
·
`As we try to draw down and transition to a stable and secure
Afghanistan, in many ways, we have to also have a stable and secure Pakistan. Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton, in two separate interviews, signalled that the
United States was open to discussing a peace deal with the Haqqanis, although
they continued to target US and Nato troops.
US urged to avoid verbal
assaults, finger-pointing
·
America`s special envoy Marc Grossman said on October 13after
wide-ranging talks with political and military leadership on that US-Pakistan
relations were important for both the countries and served their best interests.
·
The United States wanted strong and cordial relations with Pakistan,
he said at a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.
Engagement will be
productive, hopes Clinton Pakistan continues to pose `real threat`: Panetta
·
Pakistan was one of the areas where terrorism remained a major
threat, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta told a congressional hearing
on October 13, but he refused to be dragged into a debate over the need to send
US troops in that country.
·
Mr Panetta and Gen Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, both testified for the first time in their current
positions on the future of US defence and the military 10 years after 9/11.
·
Mr Panetta identified Pakistan as one of the areas which posed
`real threats` to the US and its interests.
US not sincere about
Afghan peace: Haqqanis
·
The United States was not sincere about peace in Afghanistan when
it signaled it would remain open to exploring a settlement that includes the
Haqqani network, one of the group`s senior commanders said on October 13.
Report urges Obama to freeze
Pakistan aid
·
An influential US think-tank urged the Obama administration
on October 14 to freeze its aid to Pakistan until the country took actions
against perpetrators of the US Embassy attack in Kabul and helped shut down the
Haqqani network.
·
The Heritage Foundation, often used by former US president George
W. Bush to
announce foreign policy decisions, also asked the administration to back
Congress on conditioning all US aid to Pakistan on certain counter-terrorism
benchmarks. But the report warned that while this would be `a welcome tactic,
it may be insufficient`.
Legislators briefed by
army top brass US attack in N. Waziristan unlikely
·
Chief of the Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has ruled out the
possibility of an immediate unilateral US military offensive in North
Waziristan, saying the Americans will have to think 10 times before going for
this.
·
The comments came at a rare briefing held on October 18 for
members of the standing committees on defence of the two houses of parliament
at the General Headquarters.
·
Gen Kayani said the US had been told that Pakistan did not need
military aid, adding that he had received a call from Washington asking if he
meant it. `My reply was we mean what we say`. He said only 20 per cent of the
$1.5 billion aid under the Kerry-Lugar bill had so far been received.
·
Director General of Military Operations, MajGen Ashfaq Nadeem
informed the legislators that Taliban activity in Afghanistan had increased by
40 per cent, despite 10 years of military presence of 49 countries. He said
there were safe havens of Taliban in Kunar and Nuristan in Afghanistan.
·
`Taliban operate from there (Afghanistan) to launch attacks inside
Pakistan.
·
Maj-Gen Nadeem said India`s cold start doctrine had added to the
threats confronting Pakistan. He said seven out of nine Indian commands and
three strike corps were along the border with Pakistan. Eighty-one per cent of
forward and main operating bases were positioned against Pakistan.
Biometric system to be
revived along Afghan border: Malik
·
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on October 19 that Pakistan
had decided to restore biometric system on its border with Afghanistan from Nov
30 to stop illegal crossing from both sides. He said no-one would be allowed to
cross the border without going through the screening process.
(The biometric system is designed to replace the previous permit system, by issuing border passes to people after recording their fingerprints, retinas or facial patterns for identification.)
Afghan troop pullout plan
being altered: US general
·
The US-led coalition has launched a new offensive against one of
Afghanistan`s most potent militant networks and plans to ramp up operations
next year along the border with Pakistan before the American troop drawdown
gathers steam, its top commander confirmed on October 19.
·
Marine Gen John Allen said the `high-intensity, sensitive`
operation that began just a few days ago targeted the Haqqani group.
·
Gen Allen commands more than 130,000 international troops in
Afghanistan, including about 98,000 from the United States.
·
The four-star general in his 50s, who succeeded Gen David Petraeus
in July, came to Afghanistan as the international military coalition prepares
to withdraw fighting forces by the end of 2014, leaving foreign troops in
support or training roles only. Gen Allen said the plan is now for the
transition to be achieved in five steps the last starting as early as the fall
of 2013 instead of late 2013 or early 2014 as had been discussed
·
Hillary Clinton comes
to Pakistan on October 20.
The US pressure continues to pierce Pakistani top brass
Clinton arrives with tough message
·
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Pakistan on
October 20 on what observers here said was a dual mission to convey a tough
message to Pakistan to act against the Haqqani network and dismantle militants`
`safe havens` on this side of the border and try to repair the dents relations
between the countries have suffered in recent months.
·
The officials accompanying her, CIA Director Gen David Petraeus,
Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman, Chairman
of Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Martin Dempesy and President Barack Obama`s
Adviser on Afghan War Lt-Gen Douglas Lute, indicated the nature of talks
she wanted to hold in Islamabad.
·
And the civil and military leaders of Pakistan who held the first
round of talks immediately after her arrival testified to the seriousness
Islamabad attached to the visit.
·
Her meeting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was
attended by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Finance Minister Dr
Hafeez Shaikh, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, Army Chief Gen
Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and ISI Chief Lt-Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha.
·
Officially it was said that bilateral relations, war on terror and
the situation in Afghanistan were discussed at the meeting.
·
Ms Clinton expressed the US desire to maintain strategic
partnership with Pakistan, but stressed that Pakistan must sever ties with
militants as a prerequisite for that.
·
`We intend to push the Pakistanis very hard as to what they are
willing and able to do with us... to remove the safe havens and the continuing
threats across the border to Afghans,` she said.
Help US to `fight, talk
& build`- Clinton`s 3-point strategy for ties with Pakistan
·
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on October 20 that she
wanted Pakistan to work with the United States on a three-point strategy for
defeating extremists, which includes fighting the militants, talking
with them and building the region.
·
She reminded Pakistanis that the militants were killing not only
Afghans and Americans but had also killed 30,000 Pakistanis in the last 10
years.
·
Urging Pakistani authorities to destroy militant safe havens in
Fata, she said those sites were also used to attack targets inside Pakistan.
·
The Pakistanis, she said, could `do a lot` in helping the US `in
making sure that they don`t cross the border` she said, underlining what
precise actions Washington wanted Islamabad to take.
·
In the talking category, Secretary Clinton urged Pakistan to
`unequivocally state publicly that they want to see the Afghan Taliban and
those associated with them, which would include the Haqqani network, to begin
negotiating towards a resolution with the Afghans themselves, and that they
will, with us, stand behind that kind of negotiation.
·
On the third, i.e. building, she urged Pakistan to be part of
helping to create the regional architecture that `we`re looking for at
the conference in Istanbul in early November and the conference at Bonn in
early December` This, she said, would enable Pakistan to be part of `the
international community that promotes economic integration in the region, that
understands there has to be security for there to be prosperity`.
·
`Yet we also need to reach out and talk with those who are willing
to reconcile on the three terms that have been laid out: Renounce violence,
break with Al Qaeda, and respect the laws and constitution of Afghanistan,
including protecting the rights of minorities and women.
Pakistan urged to play
role of peacemaker Clinton demands action in `days and weeks`
·
In a rather bitter-sweet message, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
asked Islamabad on October 21 to start dismantling militant safe havens along
the Afghan border within `days and weeks`, but said the United States respected
Pakistan`s sovereignty and would not undertake any unilateral action against
terrorists on its soil.
·
During an extensive interaction with media personnel and members
of civil society, she urged Pakistan to do more to nudge and push the Taliban
towards the negotiating table. Pakistan-US ties were important and they needed
each other, she added.
US likened to
mother-in-law
·
`We are trying to please you, and every time you come and visit us
you have a new idea and tell us, `You are not doing enough and need to work
harder`,` said Shamama, who works for a women`s group in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Laughing at length, Ms Clinton said she could personally relate to the woman`s
perspective because she too was a mother-in-law.
Pakistan ready to arrange
talks with Taliban, US told
·
Pakistan has told the United States it is ready to facilitate its
talks with the Taliban, but cannot become a guarantor to the negotiating
process, a senior security official told Dawn on October 22.
·
`Pakistan must not be blamed in case of failure of attempts (by
US) f or reconciliation with the Taliban as it does not spoon-feed them,` the
official remarked.
·
`Contact with the Haqqani group is there, but they are notin our
pocket,` was the message put across during a crucial meeting between the two
sides on October 21.
Clinton visit eases
US-Pakistan misgivings
·
In her interview with Fox News, Secretary Clinton, when asked to
comment on Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani`s recent statement that instead
of blaming Pakistan for all its problems Afghanistan should try to deal with
them first, appeared sympathetic to Islamabad`s position on this issue too.
·
The United States, however, has also asked Pakistan to launch a
military operation against Afghan militants, particularly the Haqqani network,
which it says operates from the country`s tribal belt.
Karzai says he`ll back
Pakistan in conflict with US
·
Afghanistan would support Pakistan in case of military conflict
between Pakistan and the United States, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in
an interview to a Pakistani TV channel broadcast on October 22.
US, Pakistan `agree on
work plan`
·
The United States and Pakistan have 90-95 per cent agreement on a
work plan to combat terrorists, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on October
23 while reflecting on her two day visit to Islamabad.
·
The delegation, which included the CIA and US military chiefs,
stressed two points: both countries have to work together to eliminate the
threat from safe havens and they also need to back an Afghan-led reconciliation
process.
US not seeking overt military action in Fata, says Clinton
·
The United States has asked the Pakistanis to squeeze the Taliban
and the Haqqani network but that does not necessarily mean taking overt
military action against them, said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who
also acknowledged that the Pakistani Taliban had built safe havens in
Afghanistan.
·
In two interviews to US media outlets, released by the State
Department on October 24, Secretary Clinton indicated that the US was not
planning to send ground troops into Fata to target terrorist hideouts.
Pace and scope of talks to
be decided by Afghans Accord with US on Taliban `tri-logue`
·
The United States and Pakistan agree on a framework for holding
direct talks with the militants and are now working to operationalise the plan,
says the US State Department.
·
At a briefing for the press corps that accompanied Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton to Islamabad last week, two State Department officials
explained what the secretary meant when she said in her recent interviews that
the US and Pakistan had agreement on 90-95 per cent of issues they confronted.
·
They said the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan had already an
understanding on holding a `tri-logue` with the Taliban militants
CONCLUSION/ANALYSIS
`DAYS and weeks, not months and years,` said US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton in Islamabad on Friday. She was referring to the time frame
within which America wants to make progress with Pakistan on a range of
regional security issues, from Afghanistan`s reconciliation process and
confronting the Haqqani network to solving the problem of improvised explosive
devices on both sides of the border. Her words brought a new urgency to the
need for sorting out US-Pakistan relations. But even when combined with her
blunt remarks in Kabul earlier about the need for Pakistan to go after militant
safe havens here, her visit can hardly be interpreted, as some sections of the
media had done before her arrival, as the delivery of a final warning that
Pakistan must cooperate, or else.
In fact, Ms Clinton lowered the temperature and undertook useful
public diplomacy by addressing at least three issues that have become the
source of much concern in Pakistan: she said unequivocally that there would be
no American boots on the ground in Pakistan in reply to questions about whether
the US will launch unilateral strikes if action is not taken against the
Haqqani network. She stated that America has no evidence of the involvement of
Pakistani intelligence in the attack on the US embassy in Kabul. And even as
she reiterated theneed for Pakistan to pursue the Afghan Taliban, Ms Clinton
said action would be taken against Pakistani Taliban who have found refuge on
the Afghan side of the border.
She was also frank about America`s openness to negotiating with
the Haqqani network even while combating it militarily, and said that Pakistan
should play a role in the former effort, not just the latter. This creates some
common ground with the All-Party Conference resolution that emphasises dialogue
with militants, could be a useful way to leverage Pakistan`s contacts, and
might make it easier for Pakistan to cooperate with efforts to neutralise the
Haqqani network. And in remarks at her joint press conference with the
Pakistani foreign minister, the focus was on putting these plans into action.
Conclusively, resetting Pakistan-US relations will require a
mutual retreat from the rhetoric and recriminations of recent months.
Haqqani safe havens have
to be destroyed; strong Pak-India ties real game-changer Clinton wants Mulla
Omar in peace talks
·
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a congressional panel
on October 27 that any Afghan-led peace process would have to include the
Quetta Shura and its leader Mulla Omar.
·
Her statement before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs
also emphasized several other key points reflecting a major change in US
approach towards seeking a peaceful end to the Afghan conflict
·
There is no solution in the region without Pakistan and no stable
future in the region without a partnership.
·
The US needs to negotiate with the Haqqani network while
continuing to work with Pakistan to destroy the safe havens it has inside Fata.
·
The US aid to Pakistan should not be conditioned to disbanding
Lashkar-i-Taiba. And the `real game-changer in the region` would be a stronger
relationship between Pakistan and India.
Panetta`s reward for Osama
hunt
·
Pentagon chief Leon Panetta will bring in the new year with a
$10,000 bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild from 1870, courtesy of a bet with a
friend over tracking down Osama bin Laden.
·
The wager was struck last new year`s eve in California, when
restaurateur Ted Balestreri pledged to uncork the oldest bottle in his
collection if Panetta then the CIA director found the Al Qaeda mastermind.
Pak safe havens, Karzai
govt ineptness worry Pentagon
·
Militant safe havens in Pakistan and the Karzai government`s
incapacities pose a significant threat to peace in Afghanistan, says a Pentagon
report released on October 28 as US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton warned American lawmakers `not to undercut our progress` in the
region.
·
The Pentagon report noted that the relationship between
Afghanistan and Pakistan had improved early on, but several events had severely
strained the ties.
·
Most notable was the May 2 US raid on Osama bin Laden`s compound
in Abbottabad. Cross-border attacks diminished in August but high-profile
attacks in September, including an assault on the US embassy in Kabul, were a
significant setback.
·
The report said that these attacks `were carried out by the
Haqqani network and directly enabled by Pakistani safe haven and support`
Secretary Clinton asked the Congress not to allow its growing frustration with
the situation in the Pakistan-Afghan region to mar US relationships with the
two countries.
·
`Working with our Afghan and Pakistani partners is not always easy
but these relationships are advancing America`s national security interests.
And walking away would undermine those interests, she told the lawmakers as
some of them urged the Obama administration to reconsider its relations with
the two countries.
·
The lawmakers were particularly concerned with Pakistan`s alleged
refusal to rein in the Haqqani network and had urged Secretary Clinton to stop
US military aid to the country.
US has no permission for
drone strikes: Gilani
·
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza
Gilani categorically said on October 29 that no permission had been granted to
the United States to launch drone attacks on targets inside Pakistan.
·
`There is no such permission,` he told a large group of Pakistani
expatriates.
·
Mr. Gilani, who is in Australia on a four day visit to attend the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, said drone attacks were
counter-productive because they caused collateral damage and undermined the
government`s efforts to garner support against extremists and terrorists.
November 2011, US back on track! PAK-US ties move towards normalcy
US seeking ISI`s help to
end Afghan war, says NYT
·
Just a month after accusing the Pakistani intelligence agency,
ISI, of supporting the Haqqani network in its attacks on US troops in
Afghanistan, the Obama administration is seeking the agency`s help to organise
reconciliation talks aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan, the New York Times
reported on October 31.
·
It said the revamped approach, which US Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton called `Fight, Talk, Build` during a high-level US
delegation`s visit to Kabul and Islamabad last month, combined continued
American air and ground strikes against the Haqqani network and the Taliban
with an insistence that Pakistan`s Inter Services Intelligence agency get them
to the negotiating table.
·
The Times observed the strategy was emerging amid an increase in
the pace of attacks against Americans in Kabul, including a suicide attack on
Saturday that killed as many as 10 Americans and in which the Haqqanis were
suspected. It is the latest effort at brokering a deal with militants before
the last of 33,000 American `surge` troops prepare to pull out of Afghanistan
by September, and comes as early hopes in the White House about having the
outlines of a deal in time for a multinational conference on Dec 5 in Bonn,
Germany, have been all but abandoned.
No peace in Afghanistan
without Pakistan help: US
·
The Afghan reconciliation process needs active support from
Pakistan to succeed, said the US State Department on November 2, although it
played down media reports that the Obama administration had decided to give
Islamabad a greater role in the peace process.
·
At the regular briefing, spokesperson Victoria Nuland described
the reports as `a little bit overwritten` but acknowledged that the US was
working with Pakistan to secure a peace deal.
·
The US media, however, insisted that Washington was willing to
give Pakistan a greater role because it believed that doing so would curtail
their support for the insurgency.
·
Ms Nuland explained that as the US supported an Afghan-led effort
to talk, the Pakistanis should be `signalling to Taliban who may be
reconcilable on their side of the border that they support talks within the
Afghan red lines`.
Pakistan aid should
continue: Clinton
·
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a message released on
November 4, has urged the US Congress to continue providing financial
assistance to Pakistan and warned that disengaging at this stage would
undermine America`s national security interests.
·
Secretary Clinton`s message to Congress accompanies a status
report on Pakistan and Afghanistan from the State Department, which also
strongly endorses America`s continued engagement with both countries.
·
`In Pakistan, it means leveraging the resources provided by the
landmark Kerry Lugar-Berman legislation to address major economic challenges
that threaten Pakistan`s stability,` the secretary said.
Zardari `assured US of
action against Haqqanis`
·
President Asif Ali Zardari promised to work with the United States
to `eradicate` the militant Haqqani network, a pledge made during a meeting
with visiting American congressmen, on November 9.
·
|
Mullen denies
receiving Ijaz`s letter
On
Oct 10, Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz claimed that President
Zardari had sought Washington`s help for removing the army and ISIchiefs
and assured the latter that he would cut all ties to militant groups if it
assisted him do so. The president allegedly made this offer in a letter he
gave Mr Ijaz for personally delivering it to the American leaders.
On November 9- `Admiral Mullen does not know Mr Ijaz and has no recollection of receiving any correspondence from him,` said a message from the former US military chief. Capt John Kirby, a former spokesman for the admiral, said Mr Mullen had asked him to release this message on his behalf.`I cannot say definitively that correspondence did not come from him the admiral received many missives as chairman from many people every day, some official, some not. But he does not recall one from this individual,` Capt Kirby told The Cable, a publication associated with the prestigious Foreign Policy group. |
Mansoor Ijaz stands by his
claim
·
Mansoor Ijaz, a PakistaniAmerican who claims to have delivered a
secret message to US officials on behalf of President Asif Ali Zardari, said on
November 11 that his contacts indeed had delivered that letter to the then US
military chief Admiral Mike Mullen.
·
Earlier this week, Mr Mullen`s spokesman Captain John Kirby said
that the admiral had not received any letter from Mr Ijaz.
·
On Oct 10, Mr Ijaz claimed that President Zardari had sought
Washington`s help for removing the army and ISI chiefs and had assured the
Obama administration that he would cut all ties to militant groups if it
assisted him do so.
·
The president allegedly made this offer in a letter he gave Mr
Ijaz for personally delivering it to American leaders.
·
But earlier this week, The Cable, a publication associated with
the prestigious Foreign Policy group, published a report based on a statement
by Mr Mullen`s spokesman, saying that the admiral did `not know Mr Ijaz and has
no recollection of receiving any correspondence from him Capt Kirby also said
he `cannot say definitively that correspondence did not come from him the
admiral received many missives as chairman from many people every day, some
official, some not. But he does not recall one from this individual`.
·
In an email message to Dawn, Mr. Ijaz pointed out that the denial
confirmed his claim.
·
`I never said I delivered anything to Admiral Mullen.
·
What I wrote was the memo was delivered to Admiral Mullen at 1400
hrs on May 10,` Mr. Ijaz wrote. `We have proof that Admiral Mullen received the
memorandum and acknowledged to the person who delivered it to him.
·
Mr. Ijaz confirmed Capt Kirby`s claim that Admiral Mullen did not
know the Pakistani-American businessman.
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