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US fighting uphill battle to convert Pakistan military.
WITHIN Pakistan's vast military network it is not hard to find evidence to support US claims, revealed in WikiLeaks documents, that a good proportion of the nation's armed forces are anti-American conspiracy theorists.
"The US RAW(Indian Intelligence Service) and Mossad were all backing Osama bin Laden," one recently retired army major told The Australian in the wake of the US commando raid on the al-Qa'ida chief's Abbottabad compound this month.
"Osama was a friend of America, he was a friend of MI6 and a friend of Mossad and somehow he turned into an enemy of Pakistan," said Sakhi ur-Rehman, who added, "this is a common attitude amongst the armed forces.'.
US State Department cables from as far back as 2007, released this week by WikiLeaks, warned the Americans faced an uphill battle to counter misconceptions about the US, particularly among the "lost generation" of Pakistani officers denied US training after Pervez Musharraf's 1999 military coup.
It advised more Pakistan officers be invited to attend international and US military training courses to challenge "biases prevalent in the Muslim world, including a belief the US invaded Iraq for its oil and that 9/11 was a staged Jewish conspiracy".
Washington has attempted to do just that by increasing the number of US troops in Pakistan, many of whom have worked with frontier troops in the troubled border regions to improve counter-insurgency skills.
Australia is also training a record number of Pakistani soldiers, with Canberra's Australian Defence College taking in 140 officers each year.
But rising tensions between the US and Pakistan since the May 2 commando operation on bin Laden's suburban compound has set back attempts to improve military co-operation.
Just days after the raid, Pakistan Army chief Ashfaq Kayani angrily demanded a reduction to "the minimum level" of US military personnel in Pakistan.
Yesterday, the Pentagon acceded to that request, announcing it had already begun withdrawing some of the more than 200 troops stationed in the nuclear-armed nation. "We were recently notified in writing that the government of Pakistan wished for the US to reduce its footprint in Pakistan. Accordingly, we have begun those reductions," Pentagon spokesman David Lapan said.
The response within Pakistan was overwhelmingly positive yesterday, despite the country's deep reliance on the US for military and economic assistance. The US has provided $US18 billion ($16.99bn) in assistance to Pakistan in the past decade, most of which has gone to the military. The military has also tacitly supported the US drone campaign in tribal areas.
Other WikiLeaks documents reveal that General Kayani requested the US increase the frequency of patrols over suspected militant hideouts. Yet in recent weeks he has accused the US of ultimately attempting to "denuclearise" Pakistan, a suspicion shared by many ordinary Pakistanis.
Former army brigadier turned military analyst Mahmood Shah yesterday denied an anti-US military culture, but said many serving and retired officers were suspicious of attempts to "penetrate" Pakistan's armed forces. "Over a period of time what the US has been doing is putting CIA people inside military installations," he said.
"They have been requested to reduce their numbers because this is not acceptable."
US fighting uphill battle to convert Pakistan military | The Australian
WITHIN Pakistan's vast military network it is not hard to find evidence to support US claims, revealed in WikiLeaks documents, that a good proportion of the nation's armed forces are anti-American conspiracy theorists.
"The US RAW(Indian Intelligence Service) and Mossad were all backing Osama bin Laden," one recently retired army major told The Australian in the wake of the US commando raid on the al-Qa'ida chief's Abbottabad compound this month.
"Osama was a friend of America, he was a friend of MI6 and a friend of Mossad and somehow he turned into an enemy of Pakistan," said Sakhi ur-Rehman, who added, "this is a common attitude amongst the armed forces.'.
US State Department cables from as far back as 2007, released this week by WikiLeaks, warned the Americans faced an uphill battle to counter misconceptions about the US, particularly among the "lost generation" of Pakistani officers denied US training after Pervez Musharraf's 1999 military coup.
It advised more Pakistan officers be invited to attend international and US military training courses to challenge "biases prevalent in the Muslim world, including a belief the US invaded Iraq for its oil and that 9/11 was a staged Jewish conspiracy".
Washington has attempted to do just that by increasing the number of US troops in Pakistan, many of whom have worked with frontier troops in the troubled border regions to improve counter-insurgency skills.
Australia is also training a record number of Pakistani soldiers, with Canberra's Australian Defence College taking in 140 officers each year.
But rising tensions between the US and Pakistan since the May 2 commando operation on bin Laden's suburban compound has set back attempts to improve military co-operation.
Just days after the raid, Pakistan Army chief Ashfaq Kayani angrily demanded a reduction to "the minimum level" of US military personnel in Pakistan.
Yesterday, the Pentagon acceded to that request, announcing it had already begun withdrawing some of the more than 200 troops stationed in the nuclear-armed nation. "We were recently notified in writing that the government of Pakistan wished for the US to reduce its footprint in Pakistan. Accordingly, we have begun those reductions," Pentagon spokesman David Lapan said.
The response within Pakistan was overwhelmingly positive yesterday, despite the country's deep reliance on the US for military and economic assistance. The US has provided $US18 billion ($16.99bn) in assistance to Pakistan in the past decade, most of which has gone to the military. The military has also tacitly supported the US drone campaign in tribal areas.
Other WikiLeaks documents reveal that General Kayani requested the US increase the frequency of patrols over suspected militant hideouts. Yet in recent weeks he has accused the US of ultimately attempting to "denuclearise" Pakistan, a suspicion shared by many ordinary Pakistanis.
Former army brigadier turned military analyst Mahmood Shah yesterday denied an anti-US military culture, but said many serving and retired officers were suspicious of attempts to "penetrate" Pakistan's armed forces. "Over a period of time what the US has been doing is putting CIA people inside military installations," he said.
"They have been requested to reduce their numbers because this is not acceptable."
US fighting uphill battle to convert Pakistan military | The Australian
