Mullens Haqqani Obsession: More US Threats

Last week the US president and the Pakistani Prime Minister failed to meet, because PM Gilani canceled his trip to New York. The reason given was that he did not show up in New York because of the floods. That was only partially true. The fact is that both countries did not want to interface with each other in the aftermath of the accusations flying about.

Facing defeat and route in Afghanistan, Washington is reeling from the Taliban's Tet offensive which directly attacked the US Embassy in the heart of Kabul. Top US military officials blamed Pakistan and that Pakistan's powerful spy agency played a direct role in supporting the insurgents who carried out the deadly attack. This was serious. This was the egregious charge that the US has leveled against Pakistan in the decade that Washington has been at war in Afghanistan. Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is ready to retire in a few days. This was his last parting shot at Islamabad and General Pasha, who heads up the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

Both the New York Times and the Washington Post carried the same story about Pakistan.  The Washington Post in a front page story said that "Mullen and Panetta slam Pakistan."

Mullen's remarks were certain to further fray America's shaky relationship with Pakistan, and will surely jeopardize American interests in Central Asia and Afghanistan. Mullen went further than any other US official in blaming the ISI for undermining the American efforts in Afghanistan.

The Mullen statement was a repeat of the Mullen rhetoric that the ISI  supports the Haqqani network. Admiral Mullen went on to say that he believed that the support "extended to increasingly high-profile attacks in Afghanistan aimed directly at the United States". This is a very serious charge reminiscent f the Iraqi WMDs–and the Admiral wont be around to prove his accusations which have usually not stood up to the test of time.

Mullen blamed the  truck bombing at a NATO outpost south of Kabul on Sept. 10, and the embassy assault on the ISI support network.

• "With ISI support, Haqqani operatives planned and conducted that truck bomb attack, as well as the assault on our embassy,"
• "We also have credible evidence that they were behind the June 28th attack against the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul and a host of other smaller but effective operations."
• "the Haqqani network acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency."
• "In choosing to use violent extremism as an instrument of policy, the government of Pakistan, and most especially the Pakistani army and ISI, jeopardises not only the prospect of our strategic partnership but Pakistan's opportunity to be a respected nation with legitimate regional influence,"
• "They may believe that by using these proxies, they are hedging their bets or redressing what they feel is an imbalance in regional power. But in reality, they have already lost that bet.
• "By exporting violence, they've eroded their internal security and their position in the region. They have undermined their international credibility and threatened their economic well-being."

Admiral Mullen forgets that the greatest fighting machine in the world has been unable to defeat the Talibs in Afghanistan and a decade of drone attack have failed to eliminate their allies the Haqqanis. It is obvious that as the endgame nears, US officials were trying to ratchet up pressure on Pakistan and perhaps pave the way for more American drone strikes or even cross-border raids into Pakistan

As the US withdraws it is strange that taking on the Haqqanis had become an urgent priority for the Obama Administration. The obsession with the Haqqani is unreal and doesn't make any sense. The concentration should be 90% of Afghanistan–amazingly it is on Pakistan, for some reason.

The Pakistanis are recoiling. On Thursday, Rehman Malik, Pakistan's interior minister reacted sharply:

• "If you say that it is ISI involved in that attack, I categorically deny it."
• "We have no such policy to attack or aid attack through Pakistani forces or through any Pakistani assistance."
• "The Pakistan nation will not allow the boots on our ground, never."
• "Our government is already cooperating with the U.S. — but they also must respect our sovereignty."

Pakistani media reports depict the Pakistanis denying the existence of the Haqqani network in Pakistan

The News reports the following "Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Awan on Thursday said that Haqqani network did not exist in Pakistan and if someone had any information about its existence he should inform the government… She said that Pakistan had been playing the role of a frontline state in the fight against terror, and trying to secure the world from terrorists but it had become insecure itself. The minister asked the world community to help the Pakistani nation in the fight against terrorism".

According tot he New York Times "Rehman Malik seemed to indicate that American officials had threatened on Tuesday in meetings in Washington with the head of the ISI, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, that American troops were prepared to cross the border from Afghanistan to attack Haqqani militants. An American official would say only that David H. Petraeus, the new director of the Central Intelligence Agency, told General Pasha that the C.I.A. would continue its campaign of drone strikes against the Haqqanis in Pakistan and pursue them in Afghanistan".

Press reports seem to indicate that the US Administration is contemplating unspecified actions that the Obama administration might take against the Haqqanis–probably more aggressive ground raids in Pakistan are necessary.

The suspension of US intention intended to chasten Pakistan for expelling American military trainers, but it may not work.

The New York Times says "Although American military officials believe that the ISI is in many cases directing the Haqqani network to attack United States forces in Afghanistan, they did not go so far as to say on Thursday that the ISI specifically directed the assault on the American Embassy. American military officials did not describe the kind of support they believe the ISI gave the Haqqani network for the embassy attack, and also offered no evidence for their claim. In July 2008, the United States was able to determine that the ISI was behind the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul based on intercepted communications of ISI officers".

Admiral Mullen was optimism about the relationship–

• "He also said he did not think he had wasted his time by putting so much effort into improving ties with Pakistan's government."
• "I've done this because I believe that a flawed and difficult relationship is better than no relationship at all," he said. "Some may argue I've wasted my time, that Pakistan is no closer to us than before, and may now have drifted even further away. I disagree. Military cooperation again is warming."

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Shahzad Shameem

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