Obama won`t back Mullen`s claim on Pakistan

Washington: President Barack Obama is declining to endorse strong criticism of Pakistan levelled by the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, while saying Pakistan must do more to deal with insurgents.

Obama was asked on a radio show today about Adm Mike Mullen`s claim that the Haqqani network "acts as a veritable arm" of Pakistan`s intelligence agency.

The president said Mullen`s statement "expressed frustration" over the insurgent havens in Pakistan. But Obama said "the intelligence is not as clear as we might like in terms of what exactly that relationship is."

Obama added that whether Pakistan`s ties with the Haqqani network are active or passive, Pakistan has to deal with it. The administration already had sought to tone down Mullen`s claim. Obama spoke on "The Michael Smerconish Program."
"The continuation of the Pakistan-directed drawdown of the US military assistance effort dramatically reduced the US ability to support Pakistan`s COIN and CT fight," Obama said referring to the decision of Pakistan to reduce the number of American troops and trainers inside the country after the Abbottabad raid in May.

"The security situation in the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) and KPk (Khaibar Pakhtoonwah) continued to deteriorate slowly during this reporting period (April 1 to June 30), while the returned focus of militant violence against government infrastructure targets demonstrated the resiliency of the insurgency and the non-permanent effects of Pakistani operations in key insurgent areas," Obama said. The negative reaction to the bin Laden raid within Pakistan included unprecedented public and internal military criticism of the leadership of the Pakistani military.

As a result, the leadership of Pakistan`s military and intelligence establishments focused a significant amount of time and effort on managing internal opinion during this reporting period, said the report.

The security situation in the FATA and KPk continued to slowly deteriorate as in the previous reporting period.

Operations in Mohmand settled into a largely static and defensive posture, but unlike previous reporting periods, as Pakistan`s ground operations in Mohmand stalled, so too did opportunities for ISAF and ANSF cooperation and collaboration with the Pakistani military on future plans and troop movements, necessary for effective combined planning along the border.

According to the report reductions of the US military presence that began at Pakistan`s direction at the end of the last reporting (January to March 2011) period continued during this reporting period (April to June).

This reduced US support to Pakistan`s COIN and CT fight, in part by hindering the ability to maintain relationships and understand the operating realities of key counterparts conducting COIN operations in the FATA and KPk.

"This significantly degraded the US ability to support the Pakistani military in its fight against militancy through the provision of training and equipment," the report said.

Years of progress in cross-border coordination and collaboration faced increased challenges, while the drawdown of US military elements in Pakistan continued the trend of a decreased US ability to contribute to Pakistan`s COIN and CT efforts, it said.

"Pakistan military operations continued in the FATA, but insurgent activity and high-profile strikes against security and government forces contributed to a decline in the security situation," the report said.

According to the report, despite efforts to develop more robust communication and coordination mechanisms to de-conflict cross-border incidents, the period between July 1 to August 31 saw an increase in incidents along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border as well as an overall decrease in coordination and collaboration.

"Insurgent activity along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border continues to pose a challenge to stabilisation efforts in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Attacks occurred along the border of both the northern and southern FATA agencies, with a number of large-scale attacks resulting in high casualty rates for Pakistan`s security forces in the north," it said.

Referring to the Raymond Davis case early this year, the report said his seven-week detention by Pakistani authorities undermined the US-Pakistan relationship, slowing ongoing efforts to strengthen the civilian government.

"The detention created division amongst the civilian leadership in Pakistan as well as between Pakistan civilian and military leaders. Civilian authorities were unwilling and unable to recognize the official`s diplomatic immunity and deferred the issue to Pakistani courts for resolution," he said.
PTI