Washington: Top US military commander has
said that any links, if they exists, between Pakistan`s
military intelligence and militant outfits were "completely
unacceptable".
The chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, Admiral Mike
Mullen, said Washington remained concerned about Pakistan`s
intelligence service ISI amid disclosures by online whistle
blower Wikileaks that the spy agency continues to maintain
links with Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
Mullen said he was appalled at the leaks of 92,000
documents of the Defence department`s war in Afghanistan by
the online whistle blower. According to the Pentagon, he told
reporters on his way to Iraq that "any links which exists with
terrorists organisations, whether it is Haqqani or LeT, it`s
just completely unacceptable",
The US commander said that leaked documents on the war
did not call into question the US strategy or relations with
Pakistan.
He said information about Pakistan`s activities and
other details were discussed during the major war strategy
review last year.
"The information I have so far seen in the documents.
There is nothing in there that was not reviewed or considered
in the strategic review," he said.
His comments came as voices grow louder against giving
Pakistan a `blank cheque` in the war on terror and media
reports quoting Obama administration officials said now that
the disclosures were in open "in some ways it makes it easier
for us to tell Pakistan they have to help us", the New York
Times reported.
"The documents seem to lay out rich new details of
connection between the Taliban and other militant groups and
Pakistan`s main spy agency, the Directorate for Inter-Services
Intelligence or ISI," the paper said.
It quoted several administration officials privately
expressing the view that they might be able to use leaks and
their description of a sometimes duplicitous Pakistani ally to
pressurise Islamabad to cooperate more fully with the US on
counter-terrorism.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs insisted that
more needs to be done by Pakistan as status quo was not
acceptable.
There is a backdrop of mistrust and wariness between
US forces and Pakistan`s military intelligence, other US media
reports said, claiming that the new leaks could lead to a near
freeze in cooperation between US agencies and ISI or only
exchanges on the need-to-know basis.
The New York Times in a scathing editorial said the
leaks "confirms a picture of Pakistan`s double-dealing that
has been building for years".
The Times warned that President Barack Obama will have
to deal firmly with Islamabad in response to the wikileaks
which said that ISI allowed its spies to meet directly with
the Taliban.
"If Obama cannot persuade Islamabad to cut its ties
to, and then aggressively fight the extremists, there is no
hope of defeating Taliban in Afghanistan," The Times said.
PTI
