Washington: Persistence of enemy havens in Pakistan was placing the success of the US strategy in Afghanistan in jeopardy, the US ambassador to Afghanistan warned in a top secret cable to Washington, the Washington Post reported Saturday.The cable, written by Ryan C Crocker last month, amounted to an admission that years of US efforts to curtail insurgent activity in Pakistan by the lethal Haqqani network, a key Taliban ally, were failing, the influential daily said citing US officials.
The American frustration with insurgent sanctuaries in Pakistan has long been a source of tension in the brittle relations between the two countries. Pakistan has been unwilling to use its military against the Haqqani network, which is seen by many as a Pakistani proxy that is careful to avoid provoking its host, instead directing its attacks against American, Indian and Afghan targets.
Though secret, Crocker`s cable was the latest expression of American exasperation with the situation, the Post said.
The cable, the daily said, could be used as ammunition by senior military officials who favour more aggressive action by the United States against the Haqqani havens in Pakistan.
It also could buttress calls from senior military officials for a more-gradual withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan as the 2014 deadline for ending combat operations approaches, the Post said.
These military officials have maintained for months that the current strategy of targeting raids against Taliban leadership and building local Afghan governance is showing impressive results.
But they warn that worsening conditions in Pakistan and the ability of insurgent groups to find haven there necessitates a larger American force than many in the Obama administration are advocating, the US daily said.
IANS
