Can this be turn can be taken as definitive proof that Pakistani Establishment( both civilian and military) are not protecting their Sovereignty in that area ?
Can we take this as definitive proof that the Pakistani authorities are NOT collaborating with Americans in drone strikes? Mr. Gates should say this loud and clear so the TTP can hear him.
"I wanted to get the Pakistanis to do more to end safe havens and to stop Taliban infiltration from their side of the border. As important to the United States as Pakistan is, both in Afghanistan and in the region, I would travel there only twice because
I quickly realized my civilian counterpart had zero clout in defense matters (dominated by the chief of the army staff). My first and only significant visit was on February 12, 2007...
"Musharraf acknowledged Pakistani failures and problems on the border, but he asked me what a lone Pakistani border sentry could do if he saw thirty to forty Taliban moving toward the Afghan border. I responded, You should permit the sentry to warn us, and we will ambush the Taliban. He said, “I like ambushes, we ought to be setting them daily.”
If only, I thought.
"I went through our very specific list of requests: capture three named Taliban and extremist leaders; give the United States expanded authority to take action against specific Taliban and al Qaeda leaders and targets in Pakistan; dismantle insurgent and terrorist camps; shut down the Taliban headquarters in Quetta and Peshawar; disrupt certain major infiltration routes across the border; enhance intelligence cooperation and streamline Pakistani decision making on targeting; allow expanded ISR flights over Pakistan; establish joint border security monitoring centers manned by Pakistanis, Afghans, and coalition forces; and improve cooperation for military planning and operations in Pakistan. Musharraf kept a straight face and pretended to take all this seriously. While the Pakistanis would eventually deploy some 140,000 troops on their border with Afghanistan and endure heavy losses in fighting there, and while there was some modest progress on joint operations centers and border security stations, we’d still be asking for virtually all these same actions years later."
Gates, Robert M (2014-01-14). Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War (Kindle Locations 3700-3703 & 3711-3721). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Solomon2 note: Gates' memoir isn't
proof, it's
testimony. Testimony isn't the same thing as proof. Proof requires physical evidence.
