US repeats ‘do more’ mantra

civilian and military officials from the United States and Pakistan met here on Friday for crucial talks to devise “new rules of engagement” to prevent the collapse of their shaky relationship, but remained far from reaching an agreement on modalities of conducting joint actions against al Qaeda and Taliban leaders found on Pakistani soil. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen asked for urgent, decisive and concrete action by Pakistan against militants on its soil, while cautioning that failure to accept Washington’s demands would be harmful to bilateral ties.
Clinton, who reached Islamabad on Friday morning, went directly from the airport amid tight security to a joint meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt General Ahmad Shuja Pasha. She was accompanied by Mullen. Later, she had a one-on-one meeting with President Zardari.
According to officials privy to the high-level talks, the two sides discussed the “new rules of engagement” to put their strained ties back on track and remove the trust deficit between them. “The two sides broadly agreed on joint action against any Taliban and al Qaeda leaders found on Pakistani soil, and it was decided that the dialogue process would continue in order to reach an agreement on how these actions would be carried out,” said an official here, who asked not to be named.
He said that the US made it clear that in case of Islamabad’s failure to respond positively to Washington’s demands for joint action, including its troops on Pakistani soil, US aid to the country could be suspended. “Pakistan told the US officials that Islamabad was ready for joint anti-terror operations but the US would only provide intelligence about terrorist leaders, leaving it to Pakistani troops to take the necessary action,” he said. The two sides, however, decided to revive the stalled strategic dialogue process to push forward bilateral cooperation in defence, economy and other sectors. “In a significant development, the US secretary of state and Admiral Mullen linked an end to drone strikes in the tribal areas to a full-scale military operation in North Waziristan against the Haqqani network by Pakistani forces,” said a source.
The US officials also agreed to take care of “legitimate Pakistani concerns” in Afghanistan vis-à-vis India, but said a crackdown on Pakistan-based militants who fought the US and NATO forces across the border in Afghanistan was a must. They also discussed some specific militant leaders they wanted Pakistan to take action against, such as the current head of the Haqqani network Sirajud Din Haqqani, his father Jalaluddin Haqqani, Osama bin Laden’s deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri, acting al Qaeda chief Saiful Adal, key al Qaeda leader Ilyas Kashmiri and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Hakimullah Mehsud. They also shared some information they had in this regard with the Pakistani authorities.
“For the past decade, many of the world’s most vicious terrorists, including al Qaeda’s most important leaders, have been living in Pakistan,” said Clinton. Later, accompanied by Mullen, Clinton told reporters at the US embassy that the US expected Pakistan to authorise joint action against al Qaeda and its affiliates. “There is still much more work required and it is urgent… it is up to the government of Pakistan to take decisive steps in the days ahead,” she said. She declined to elaborate on those steps were but a US official traveling with her suggested they may include special operations to attack militants. “A lot of those things are quite sensitive. They are people who threaten Pakistan; they are people who threaten Afghanistan; they are people who threaten the United States – or activities that threaten Pakistan, Afghanistan, the United States,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters.
Clinton said that after bin Laden’s death, relations between the US and Pakistan had reached a “turning point”, but did not explain further. Mullen said that the four hours of meetings were meant to rebuild the trust eroded by the unilateral US raid to kill bin Laden without informing Pakistan beforehand. Clinton said one trust-building event occurred on Friday morning when the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) walked into bin Laden’s former compound with high-tech equipment to find any material hidden in the walls. She said bin Laden was a major theme in the talks and Pakistani officials admitted that “someone, somewhere” helped provide bin Laden support. She said the US had no evidence that senior Pakistani government officials knew bin Laden was hiding in a large compound in Abbottabad.
Clinton and Mullen said the meetings were as much about Pakistan as they were about Afghanistan. They pushed Pakistan to facilitate the draw-down of US troops by assisting reconciliation talks and stopping the flow of improvised explosive devices into Afghanistan. Both US leaders urged Pakistan to support the Afghanistan reconciliation process. Clinton said Pakistani officials expressed willingness to help a political settlement in Afghanistan. “We hope those words turn into action, into momentum toward political reconciliation,” she added.Clinton acknowledged the sacrifices Pakistan had made since allying itself with the US after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
She admitted that these sacrifices were rarely discussed in the international media, and talked about the deadliest attack since bin Laden’s death, in which suicide bombers killed around 80 fresh graduates of a paramilitary force. “The loss of those young men who were training to protect their country was a tragedy. And I don’t know if enough Americans understood what that meant,” she said. But Clinton also criticised the portrayal of the US in the Pakistani media, suggesting that deliberate misconceptions and conspiracy theories were being spread here against her country. She said the US and Pakistan needed to tell the truth to the media and more balanced, accurate coverage would help the two countries’ leadership restore trust. “Let’s clear away the underbrush and let’s have the kind of open, candid conversation that you and I are having now and that we had earlier today and then let the chips fall where they may. But let’s not be misinterpreting or misrepresenting each other, because then we can never, ever find common ground,” she said.
“America cannot and should not solve Pakistan’s problems. That’s up to Pakistan. But in solving its problems, Pakistan should understand that anti-Americanism and conspiracy theories will not make problems disappear,” she said further.Mullen acknowledged that trust between the two nations’ militaries still needed to be rebuilt. However, he said, it was in the interest of both countries to work together. “Now is not the time for retreat or for recrimination. Now is the time for action and closer cooperation, not less. The fight will and must go on with a Pakistani military and a US military acting, coordinating and leading together. We’ve come too far and sacrificed too much to be it any other way,” he said.
Clinton brushed aside suggestions that the meetings had been tense.No press conference was held about the crucial talks by any Pakistani leaders, but Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan, briefing reporters on a cabinet meeting held on Friday, said Pakistan had conveyed to the US that it would not accept breach of its sovereignty by drone attacks and the entire nation was one on this issue.
She said Clinton could not take any decision on her own on the issue of drone strikes and she would convey Pakistan’s concerns to Washington. Mullen had met General Kayani here at Army House earlier on Friday. The meeting lasted more than two hours, in which Pakistan-US relations, Pakistan’s view on US drone strikes, investigation into the Abbottabad operation, relations between CIA and ISI and regional security situation were discussed, Online news agency quoted defence sources as saying.
During the meeting, Kayani expressed strong reservations over the unilateral US operation in Abbottabad and made it clear that such type of action would further worsen relations between the two countries. Mullen confirmed later that the US had recently received a request to reduce the number of military trainers in Pakistan. “We are in a process of examining that and would see the areas where the US military presence needs to be reduced,” he said.Online news agency reported that Clinton was given a rather cold welcome upon her arrival in Pakistan, with no senior government official present at the Chaklala Airbase to receive her.
According to diplomatic sources, the Foreign Ministry’s Chief of Protocol Ghalib Iqbal welcomed Clinton, and even Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and State Minister of Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar were conspicuously absent.Sources said that Clinton noticed the absence of senior representatives of the government, but her enquiries received only a “silent smile” from the chief of protocol.