dr.umer
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27 Sep 2008
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff Admiral Michael Mullen Friday sought to ease tensions with Pakistan after an incident on the Afghan-Pakistan border, urging calm cooperation.
"Now more than ever is a time for teamwork, for calm," Mullen said, adding he had received reassurances from Pakistani military leaders that they had no intention of firing on US forces.
"It's time to recognize that we all, Pakistan, Afghan, American, and others in the region share a stake in the safe and secure Pakistan," he added.
US military officials said Thursday that Pakistani and US troops had exchanged fire along the Pakistani-Afghan border after two US military helicopters came under fire.
Rear Admiral Gregory Smith said Pakistani soldiers at a border checkpoint were observed firing on two US OH-58 Kiowa helicopters covering a patrol of Afghan and US troops about a mile and a half inside Afghanistan.
"The ground forces then fired into the hillside nearby that checkpoint, gained their attention, which worked," Smith told AFP by telephone.
"Unfortunately, though, the Pak unit decided to shoot down a hillside at our ground forces. Our ground forces returned fire."
But Mullen said: "Despite the violence of the last few days, ... I remain convinced that Pakistan's military leaders understand the nature of the threat and are working hard to eliminate it."
Tensions have escalated with Washington since a September 3 ground attack by US forces inside Pakistan, the first of its kind since 2001, left about 15 people dead. It prompted Pakistani military leaders to vow to defend their country against all outside force.
Following Thursday's exchange of gunfire, new Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari told the United Nations that Islamabad would not tolerate violations of its sovereignty, even by its allies.
"Just as we will not let Pakistani's territory to be used by terrorists for attacks against our people and our neighbours, we cannot allow our territory and our sovereignty to be violated by our friends," Zardari said, without citing the United States or the border flareup.
On Friday Mullen stressed: "These things take time. We've learned ourselves you don't take an army that was built to fight a conventional war and turn it into an effective counterinsurgency force overnight.
"And you don't defeat extremists or their ideologies solely with military power."
He added: "Quite frankly, I believe some of the best solutions we may find are those not tied to military power, but rather to economic aid and assistance and other whole-of-government approaches."
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Did Gen. Mullen finally realize it or it's another public stunt?
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