Tougher approach needed on Pakistan, says US adviser
By Matthew Green in Kabul
Published: December 15 2010 19:57 | Last updated: December 15 2010 19:57
The Nato campaign in Afghanistan is on a “bullet train to failure” unless the US takes a tougher approach towards Pakistan shutting down sanctuaries for Taliban fighters, a former senior US official has warned.
The White House is due to publish a review of its strategy in Afghanistan on Thursday that is expected broadly to endorse current policy while acknowledging the risks posed by insurgent havens in Pakistan.
The review is also expected to seize on recent military successes around the southern city of Kandahar where US-led Nato forces have been directing much of their energy in recent months.
But in an interview with the Financial Times, Bill Harris, who stepped down last month as the top US civilian official in Kandahar, said Washington’s attempts to boost ties with Islamabad had failed to stem a steady flow of fighters from Pakistan over the past year.
“We have put the government in Islamabad on a very rich diet of carrots for 10 years and nobody should be surprised that they have developed a taste for it,” he said. “I do believe that it’s past time for some absolute straight talk in that bilateral relationship.
“We’re on the bullet train to failure in Afghanistan if we try to fight this war to any kind of conclusion with Pakistan sanctuaries open.”
His comments reflect mounting concern that growing flows of US aid are doing little to persuade Pakistan’s security forces to stop covertly supporting Afghan insurgents.
In spite of Pakistani denials, US officials have long suspected Pakistani security forces of continuing to support Afghan factions as part of a long-standing policy to counter Indian influence in Afghanistan.
Mr Harris said sanctuaries in Pakistan had assumed greater importance for the Taliban after the summer influx of US troops in Kandahar province, the Taliban heartland, pushing many militants across the border.
Mr Harris, a veteran diplomat, said he fears insurgents will continue to slip back into Afghanistan to disrupt attempts to help Kabul extend its presence into areas where US and Afghan forces have provided a degree of security.
“In my year in Kandahar, I had not seen any progress whatsoever in stemming the flow in people and capacity for the Taliban across that southern border,” he said.
The Obama administration has repeatedly insisted that Pakistan broaden a campaign against militants in its tribal areas to target Afghan militants in North Waziristan. The US also wants Pakistan to stop Taliban fighters infiltrating Kandahar Province from its western province of Baluchistan.
However, the Obama administration’s attempts to forge a shared vision for securing the region has yet to convince Pakistan’s generals to comply. Ann Patterson, the former US ambassador, warned in a 2009 diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks last month that no amount of money would persuade Pakistan to stop backing Afghan insurgents and Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group blamed for 2008 attacks on Mumbai.
Some analysts have argued that the US should raise the pressure on Pakistan by threatening to withhold aid. Washington’s leverage is limited, however, by its desire to foster greater cooperation with the military in fighting Pakistani extremists and its reliance on supply lines running through Pakistan to serve US troops in Afghanistan.
FT.com / Asia-Pacific - Tougher approach needed on Pakistan, says US adviser
Tougher approach needed on Pakistan, says US adviser
Linear Mode
