Pakistan will not go as far as Washington wants, and there’s nothing the US can do about it: That’s the sobering reality as the US tries to persuade a hesitant Pakistan to finish off the fight against terrorists.
Expand the current assault against the Taliban?
Pakistan has made clear that will happen only on its own terms. US officials acknowledge that so far they haven’t won the argument that militants who target America are enemies of Pakistan, too.
The US has offered Pakistan $7.5 billion in military aid and broader cooperation with the armed forces. The assistance is intended to help Pakistan speed up its fight not only against internal militants, but also against Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders hiding near the border with Afghanistan.
Pakistanis are deeply suspicious of America’s power and motives, making it difficult for their leaders to accede to Washington’s pressure in public, lest they look like US puppets.
US officials say that while Pakistani officials cooperate more in private, there are definite limits. The US wanted Pakistan to move forces deeper into the tribal belt before winter. It didn’t happen, and might not at all.
A senior US diplomat hinted at a separate agreement that would allow the US itself to take on some of the hidden war against Pakistan’s militants.
{{/usCountry}}A senior US diplomat hinted at a separate agreement that would allow the US itself to take on some of the hidden war against Pakistan’s militants.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive talks with Pakistan, the diplomat said last week that more US action is expected against the Haqqani network, led by longtime resistance fighter and former US ally Jalaluddin Haqqani. His network, based in the Waziristan tribal area in northwest Pakistan, reportedly has strong ties with Al Qaeda and targets US forces in eastern Afghanistan from across the border.
The diplomat said the stepped-up US action would come with Pakistani support, but would not elaborate on the potential cooperation.
Pakistani officials claim they have targeted the Haqqani leadership, albeit unsuccessfully, and will go after the network when the time is right. Some US officials believe that, others don’t.
Military officials say the Haqqani problem illustrates how the United States sometimes needs Pakistan more than the other way around.
The US military now counts the Haqqani network as the single gravest threat to U.S. forces fighting over the border in Afghanistan, and badly wants Pakistan to push the militants from their border refuges. But the Pakistani answer seems to be that unless and until the Haqqanis threaten Pakistan, they won’t be a priority.