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Pakistan threatens to withdraw troops from Pak-Afghan border

And now for something completely different (not really when Pakistan are involved) Though I applaud this move:


No need for US aid to fight terrorists: ISPR

* Spokesman says Pak Army has conducted successful military operations using its own resources

* State Dept says Washington not prepared to continue providing aid at pace it was providing unless it sees certain steps taken

ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON: The Pakistan military said on Monday that it was capable of fighting without American assistance while the US administration responded that its “uneasy ally” needed to make a greater effort in the fight against terrorists.

“The army in the past as well as at present, has conducted successful military operations using its own resources without any external support whatsoever,” Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General, Major General Athar Abbas, said.

A top US diplomat had, in a televised interview on Sunday, confirmed that “the United States has decided to withhold almost a third of its annual $2.7 billion security assistance to Islamabad”.

Abbas wrote to a foreign news agency that the Pakistan defence forces had not been informed officially of a US decision to suspend $800 million worth of aid. “We have not received any official intimation or correspondence on the matter.”

He also referred AFP to an extraordinary statement from Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on June 9 recommending that the US military aid be redirected towards civilians.

Soon after the ISPR director general’s statement, the US administration, while defending its decision to suspend $800 million of military aid to Pakistan, said its “uneasy ally” needed to make a greater effort in the fight against terrorists.

“When it comes to our military assistance, we’re not prepared to continue providing that at the pace that we were providing it unless and until we see certain steps taken,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

The US was particularly “looking to improve our cooperation in counter-terrorism, in counterinsurgency”, she told journalists.

“The United States continues to seek a constructive, collaborative, mutually beneficial relationship with Pakistan,” she stressed, adding, “We’ve been talking to Pakistan at all levels about the issues behind these decisions.”

Nuland further said, “We are working together on how we can improve our relationship particularly in the categories of counter-terrorism and counterintelligence.”

She recalled that on May 25, Islamabad demanded that about 100 US advisers leave Pakistani soil, effectively halting military training, adding, “We obviously can’t do that in an environment where Pakistan has asked our trainers to go.”

The suspended aid includes about $300 million to reimburse Pakistan for some of the costs of deploying more than 100,000 soldiers along the Afghan border, according to the New York Times.

On Sunday, US President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, William Daley, had told a television channel that the US had decided to withhold almost a third of its annual $2.7 billion security assistance to Pakistan.

Pakistan says it has 140,000 soldiers in the northwest, more than the 99,000 American troops in Afghanistan, fighting a local Taliban insurgency.

The US has long called on Pakistan to do more to crack down on terrorists, such as the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani network, who use its soil to attack within Afghanistan, but the army says its troops are too over-stretched.

Relations between the key allies in the war on al Qaeda drastically worsened after US commandos killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May
. afp

Now that's the attitude we Pakistanis expect and want. So why our defence minister was in a joking mode?
 
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xxxxxxxzzzz

Aryan, dont be enmotional, its not the interest of a US soldier to come to a hostile environment and fight for his country. He does so because he is ordered to do so, but if your really want to take a stand to save Pakistan, you have to bring your government to scrtinity and you should make them to bow before its people and the nation and not to anyone else, Your leaders have become so corrupt that they don't want to let go of uncle sams money and warmth.
Killing US soldiers wont do any good but bring the right person to the thron of Pakistan will do the job
 
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We stood in harms way protecting the Americans, now we'll point the way and step aside :)

Asim! No doubt we have tense relations with US but that doesn't mean that we should stoop so low to help terrorists to attack Americans. What happened to you? You are a reasonable guy. You could do better than this.
 
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Taliban is a law unto themselves.

If they take over, the PDF will be a 'has been'.

Therefore, I don't think they are a good choice.
 
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Pakistan threatens to withdraw troops from Pak-Afghan border

207538-ChaudhryAhmedMukhtar-1310412032-945-640x480.jpg

Mukhtar says that US aid money meant to reimburse costs incurred in stationing army in Pak-Afghan border areas, not to fight war on terror.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar threatened to withdraw Pakistani troops from the Pak-Afghan border in reaction to the suspension of nearly $800 million worth of US military aid.

In an exclusive interview with Express 24/7′ special correspondent Kirsten Seymour in Islamabad on Monday, he said that Pakistan would pull back troops from the nearly 1100 check posts set up along the Pak-Afghan border if the US does not resume Pakistan’s military aid. A move that would sabotage efforts against the Taliban and al Qaeda in the region.

He said “this money (US military aid) is not for fighting the war, but its the money that we have spent already.”

Asked about what will Pakistan’s reaction be, he said that Pakistan could not afford to keep its military out in the mountains for a long period of time. “The next step would be that the government or the armed forces will remove the forces from the border areas,” he said

Shamsi Airbase for logistical use only


The defence minister went on to say that the US, by way of UAE had been allowed the use of the Shamsi air strip for unarmed drones and as a logistics support site.

“The understanding was that the drones would fly from Shamsi base but only for logistics purposes . . . they were not supposed to be carrying guns . . . when you see people being killed, there are definitely missiles coming down from these drones,” he said.
However Mukhtar maintained that this was a problem that could be resolved if both, the US and Pakistan came to some “arrangement” over this issue.

:tup::tup:

A bit tis tat with US.

Drones for Logistics :undecided: Sometimes Pakistani army and leaders really go overboard. Do they really think that no one outside Pakistan will ever read or hear these statements? I mean they must be knowing that all are not so gullible. Right?
 
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Asim! No doubt we have tense relations with US but that doesn't mean that we should stoop so low to help terrorists to attack Americans. What happened to you? You are a reasonable guy. You could do better than this.

We should kill all CIA, RAW backed terrorists who are anti-Pak. And as far as the Taliban who are fighting with USZ troops should be supported, after all they are fighting for their homeland - I think this we and USZ said in past as well when they where fighting against USSR.
 
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We have to pay you to control your own territory? Lol, and you all complain about violated soveriegnty. You have none.

Nops, you pay us so that US arse does not gets more bloodied then what its already has become.
 
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I would suggest that the Pakistan Army is different than that of MOST other countries in that it makes its opinion known on national matters. After all, it is the guardian of the first and only muslim nuclear power in the world!

I would suggest that Pakistani Army is different than most other countries because it has an opinion for everything within and outside its ambit of operations. This army is in general very keen to run a parallet government and has extreme political vested interests and it takes no pains to hide this fact. Nothing to do with religion or anything. All that is just part of the politics of the Pakistani Army.

It is a gaurdian of only the ambition to have Pakistan as a nation for the army!
 
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No Asim! Taliban is not going to forgive us for our uturn. Things will not go back to normal now. US forces leave or not, it will make no difference. Taliban agenda is bigger. They want to capture Pakistan and install their own Govt. We have no option but fighting them.

If Americans stay, Taliban will concentrate on attacking them, if Americans leave, then the situation will revert back to the old days, where Taliban would be engaged in controlling the Afghanistan they capture and also engaged with the opposition, the Northern Alliance, thus in both cases they won't have sufficient manpower nor the resources to fight two sided war.

PA would be strong enough to take them on then.
 
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Asim! No doubt we have tense relations with US but that doesn't mean that we should stoop so low to help terrorists to attack Americans. What happened to you? You are a reasonable guy. You could do better than this.

well said and it is logical and natural that why a country go too low to help terrorists that it once created. :undecided:

infact Pakistan has only few options:

1. puppet of usa
2. puppet of saudi
3. beaten back by india

it seems the 2nd one is somehow more better than 1 and 3. while iran is a total failure in pakistan.
 
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The moving around of PA when and if focused on the common enemy, the terrorists, works well. Pakistan has a very professional Army which when applied by the top leadership, military and civilian. does a good job. But on again, off again, with no permanent garrisons to back up local security in now violently and violated by terrorist Taliban and Haquani al Qaida affiliated thugs has destabilized the locals who both want peace but who also do not want the nut case radical religious thugs messing up and messing with their basic human freedoms.

The defamation clause in the Pakistani Constitution is an awful thing used by the terrorists, who otherwise disobey all other laws in all pars of Pakistan, to justify murdering innocent people who exercise their God given rights of freedom of religion and perhaps from time to time freedom from religion.
 
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If Americans stay, Taliban will concentrate on attacking them, if Americans leave, then the situation will revert back to the old days, where Taliban would be engaged in controlling the Afghanistan they capture and also engaged with the opposition, the Northern Alliance, thus in both cases they won't have sufficient manpower nor the resources to fight two sided war.

PA would be strong enough to take them on then.

well said. If american leaves the taliban will not be able to hold for long in all over Afghanistan. they will be confined to the pashtun areas alongside Pakistan. currently they are enjoying their hay days while usa is present in afghanistan.
 
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If Americans stay, Taliban will concentrate on attacking them, if Americans leave, then the situation will revert back to the old days, where Taliban would be engaged in controlling the Afghanistan they capture and also engaged with the opposition, the Northern Alliance, thus in both cases they won't have sufficient manpower nor the resources to fight two sided war.

PA would be strong enough to take them on then.

Dont agree here.. Since they dont fight face to face with an Army. The same has been seen in Pindi and Karachi
 
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Asim! No doubt we have tense relations with US but that doesn't mean that we should stoop so low to help terrorists to attack Americans. What happened to you? You are a reasonable guy. You could do better than this.

How is stepping aside helping them? US has made a hostile move against us, we are defending ourselves by making the US and the Taliban direct in this conflict. Take ourselves out as the middle man.
 
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How is stepping aside helping them? US has made a hostile move against us, we are defending ourselves by making the US and the Taliban direct in this conflict. Take ourselves out as the middle man.

Actually, the operations where Pakistan hasnt been the middle man seem to be showing better returns. Whether it was elimination of OBL or the drone attacks. So may be Pakistan getting out of the way is best for all . I mean all except the terrorists ;)
 
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