The chief of army staff and the Inter-Services Intelligence director general criticised various clauses of the Kerry-Lugar law, including that of the US assessment of civilian control over military promotions and the chain of command, in a meeting with then US ambassador Anne Patterson on October 6, 2009, WikiLeaks quoted a US embassy cable on Saturday.
According to details of the cable sent by the US embassy on October 7, 2009 and released by WikiLeaks on August 30, Patterson met COAS General Ashfaq Kayani and ISI DG Shuja Pasha in a two-hour meeting and heard a number of complaints about the Kerry-Lugar bill, particularly a fear that the waiver in Kerry-Lugar would not be used and aid would be suspended. “There were several clauses in the bill, such as an American assessment of civilian control over military promotions and the chain of command that rankled COAS Kayani. DG ISI Pasha said Kayani was receiving criticism on the bill from the corps commanders,” the cable said, adding that the ambassador “emphasised the bill’s long-term commitment to Pakistan and made three points – provisions of the bill could be waived, the bill only required certifications and ‘assessments’, and the bill does not apply to the large amounts in the Pakistan counterinsurgency fund or the Coalition Support Fund but only, so far, to non-appropriated foreign military financing”. According to the cable, Pasha and Kayani repeated that the army had taken huge steps this year in its bilateral cooperation with the US and in its campaign in Swat and Bajaur and was getting little public (or private) credit from the US for these historic steps. Kayani said he was considering a statement on the bill, but he was struggling with what to say.
He realised that Senator Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden, the original sponsor of the bill, were among Pakistan’s best friends. Kayani said the language in the bill could undermine political support for the army’s anti-terrorist effort. The cable said the ambassador called on General Kayani late in the evening to discuss the Kerry-Lugar bill. (Kayani had spoken to Chairman Mullen and General McChrystal earlier in the day). Pasha joined most of the two-hour meeting. General Kayani said there were elements in the bill that would set back the bilateral relationship, and critical provisions were almost entirely directed against the army. Both he and Pasha claimed the bill refused to recognise the enormous progress which had been made bilaterally with the US military and against terrorism within Pakistan. He was particularly irritated at the assessment required on civilian control of the military since he had no intention of taking over the government. “If I had wanted to do this, I would have done it during the long march.” The cable added that Pasha, who is usually more emotional than Kayani, said the bill had caused a negative reaction among the corps commanders and younger officers. Pasha said they could not figure out why these “conditions” on assistance had been raised now when the anti-terrorist efforts had improved so much. The ambassador said there were no conditions on the assistance, only a requirement for certifications and assessments. “We saw the bill as a major victory since it represented a long-term commitment to Pakistan’s development”, the ambassador replied. She said the bill had a provision for waivers, which in her judgment would be exercised if necessary. Kayani replied that the Pressler amendment had a waiver, too, but president George Bush had refused to sign it.