Washington: Dismissing the remarks by the
Pakistani military on the November 26 deadly NATO cross border
strike, the US on Monday said it stands by its own investigation
that it was not an unprovoked firing by the US-led forces.
"This (Pakistan military remarks) does not change our
believes in the validity of the findings. The statement that
this was an unprovoked attack by American forces is simply
false," Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt John Kirby said.
"This was not an unprovoked attack. We have said this
many many times. There were errors made on both sides here,"
he told reporters.
Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said that Pakistan
officially communicated with it on its own findings over the
weekend before going public today.
Asserting that the US stands "100 per cent" by the
investigation done by a top general from the Central Command
(CENTOCM) released last month, Kirby said the US had desired
Pakistani participation in that investigation, which then
would have been more thorough.
Pakistan`s absence from participation in the CENTCOM
investigation, Kirby said: "does not change our firm believe
in the validity of the findings of the investigations that we
did".
The most important thing is that the Pentagon now wants
to get past all this and wants to build a good co-operative
relationship with the Pakistani military.
"We still believe that co-ordination and communication
with the Pakistani military particularly across that border
remains vital to our success in Afghanistan. We are still very
committed to this relationship and getting it on the right
track," Kirby said.
PTI
