Washington’s top military officer said on Monday that Pakistani anger over a NATO air strike in Mohmand Agency was justified given the loss of life, but he declined to offer an apology saying he did not know enough yet about the incident and that there was a US military investigation underway. Dempsey, chairman of the US military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Britain’s ITV News that US-Pakistani relations were at one of their worst points in memory after the NATO strike that killed 24 Pakistani troops, but could recover.
Questioned whether the situation was irretrievable, he said: “No. I don’t think so.” Dempsey branded the relationship with Pakistan “troubled” when he addressed a forum in London. He said the US could cope with Pakistan cutting off NATO supplies through its territory by channeling supplies through alternative routes. “But I’d like to believe that we could, over time, with Pakistan’s approval, restore those lines of communication,” he said. Dempsey, who declined to acknowledge the use of drones at the Shamsi airbase, said Pakistan’s demands for the base to be cleared out would be a “serious act in terms of
our relationship.”