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Holbrooke seen as rude
LAHORE: Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy on Afghanistan and Pakistan, chatting quietly with Admiral Mike Mullen, the Joint Chiefs' chairman, was perceived as rude and contemptuous, BBC said on Wednesday.
Holbrooke and Mullen were on their first visit to Pakistan since Barack Obama unveiled his new strategy to fight the Afghan war. They had come to discuss details of the strategy and deepen co-operation. Instead, their visit highlighted quite publicly clear differences between Pakistani and American views. One was missiles strikes against suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives on Pakistani soil by unmanned CIA drones. These are expected to continue and possibly increase, despite objections from Islamabad. "We did talk about drones and let me be frank, there's a gap between us and them," Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said. American officials have implied that Islamabad has given tacit approval for the attacks, which they say have eliminated Al Qaeda operatives. But the missiles also kill civilians and critics argue that the strikes compound anti-Americanism and further destabilise the country. The Americans were asked to transfer the drone technology and authority to the Pakistan Army. This came as a rude shock to the Americans, who have taken Pakistan's leadership for granted. Adm Mullen dodged the question. Another bone of contention was an American "slander campaign" against the ISI. "The challenges are associated with the ISI's support historically for some of the [militant] organisations and I think it's important that that support ends," Mullen has told journalists. The US is also concerned about Pakistan's border areas when pressed for evidence on allegations that the Taliban leadership was based in Pakistani, Holbrooke said, "I hear there is a Quetta Shura because people tell me about it." When asked whether the public pressure on the ISI was not counter-productive, he said, "We're putting on as much pressure as the system can bearm ... but we're not beating up on anyone." The Pakistani perception is that they are. A security source told the BBC that the Americans had been given a sharp message to back off. "The bottom line," the foreign minister said, "is the question of trust ... We can only work together if we respect and trust each other. There is no other way, nothing else will work." Posted by: john frum 2009-04-09 |
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