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U.S.-Pakistan Talks Hit Snag
By ADAM ENTOUS And SIOBHAN GORMAN
WASHINGTON—U.S. and Pakistani officials have held secret exploratory talks on a new counterterrorism partnership, but that initiative and others are held up by the impasse over an American apology for the deaths last year of 24 Pakistani troops, both countries said.
The dispute over an apology for the Nov. 26 deaths—which Pakistan has demanded but which the White House has refused to give—has widening implications. It is delaying a deal to reopen critical supply routes for U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops in neighboring Afghanistan, U.S. and Pakistani officials say.
The dispute also makes reaching a deal on counterterrorism cooperation that much harder.
Senior U.S. officials in recent months have quietly sounded out their Pakistani counterparts about negotiating a broad accord intended to give Islamabad a greater role in what has largely been a unilateral U.S. drone campaign against Pakistan-based militants, participants in the preliminary talks say.
The proposals call for a joint military campaign against militants that would incorporate U.S. drones as well as Pakistani F-16s and ground forces, these officials say.
The Central Intelligence Agency, which pilots the hunter-killer drones in Pakistan, invited the new head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, Lt. Gen. Zaheerul Islam, to Washington last month to discuss counterterrorism cooperation, but the visit was postponed, reflecting the two countries' fraught relations.
A partnership with Pakistan on counterterrorism operations is critical, advocates say, to ensure that the U.S. can keep the pressure on al Qaeda and its allies as American and international forces gradually pull out of Afghanistan. Without a deal, they say, Pakistan could move to block CIA drone flights.
Islamabad has publicly called for the U.S. spy agency to halt all drone attacks on its territory but it hasn't taken any tangible steps to stop the flights.
The Pakistanis have in recent months grown so frustrated that they have explored options to counter the drones, including shooting them down and mounting a legal challenge to the program in the World Court as a violation of international law and of the United Nations Charter, say people familiar with the matter.
Senior U.S. and Pakistani officials acknowledge the difficulty of forging a real counterterrorism partnership given deep-seated Pakistani public opposition to U.S. drone operations.
Reflecting its frustration with Pakistan, the White House has authorized stepped-up CIA strikes in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan in recent weeks.
The hurdles to any deal are great, both sides acknowledge.
Vali Nasr, a former top Obama administration adviser on Pakistan, said the current U.S. strategy of "pressure, pressure and more pressure" is unlikely to lead to a "grand bargain" on the drone program and counterterrorism. "We can't even get out of the gate with an apology."
Moreover, officials say talks on a counterterrorism deal setting out the roles of U.S. and Pakistani forces would be complicated by disagreements between the countries over which militant groups should be targeted, officials say.
While U.S. officials believe Pakistan would consent to U.S. drone strikes targeting top al Qaeda leaders and Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, which is battling the Pakistani government, Islamabad has so far balked at strikes against the Haqqani network, which American officials say has long-standing ties to Pakistan's intelligence agency and is responsible for attacks against U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
To try to address Pakistanis' concerns that the drone strikes impinge on their sovereignty, U.S. officials have raised the possibility of a more collaborative approach under which U.S. drone operations could be conducted in concert with strikes from Pakistan's fleet of F-16s.
The U.S. would, in turn, share more intelligence with Pakistan to support operations by its air and ground forces, officials say. Intelligence sharing has been hampered in the past because of U.S. concerns that Pakistan will tip off wanted militants before the strikes take place.
The Obama administration has made clear that drone strikes will continue to target what remains of al Qaeda's network in the tribal areas of Pakistan, whether Islamabad agrees or not. But U.S. officials involved in the preliminary discussions believe the Pakistani government would be more receptive to cooperating if those operations were seen as part of a broader campaign supporting Pakistani forces. Officials said such a strategy could allow the Pakistanis to argue that the drone attacks aren't an affront to their sovereignty because they directly benefit Islamabad.
Advocates of such an arrangement acknowledge that reaching a deal may be a "long shot" in the near-term, but they want negotiations to begin.
U.S. officials said President Barack Obama was wary of apologizing to a country that continues to harbor militants. Such an apology at the height of a presidential campaign could expose him to criticism from Republicans.
The U.S. officials say they believe Pakistan postponed Lt. Gen. Zahir's visit to Washington because the government wants to settle other outstanding differences, including over the reopening of NATO supply routes into Afghanistan, before tackling thorny counter-terrorism issues, encompassing the drone program. The Pentagon said this week that it pulled U.S. negotiators.
Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S., Sherry Rehman, said the lack of an apology is holding up counterterrorism discussions. "We are committed to working with the international community to bring stability to the region, and this includes the U.S., of course," she said.
"The apology is holding up important discussions in many areas, including a broader conversation on counterterrorism cooperation. I hope we resume productive cooperation in many areas, but all of it will have to pass the test of transparency. Drone attacks need to cease, especially since most of al Qaeda has been destroyed, that too with our active cooperation."
A U.S. official said there "there's always room for discussion" with the Pakistanis on ways they can partner with the U.S. and "get more involved in the defense of their own country from terrorists." But the official said progress in this area tends to "happen incrementally" and that there were no active negotiations "when it comes to conducting the counterterrorism operations needed to protect the U.S. and its interests."
A Pakistani official said that a counterterrorism program using Islamabad's F-16s and the U.S.'s drones would only be acceptable if the Pakistanis were involved with the operations of both. The F-16s could be used in relatively unpopulated areas.
Among the proposals that were floated were a joint program run out of the Pakistani military's headquarters in Rawalpindi and a joint program run out of one of the border patrol outposts along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
The Pakistani official said Lt. Gen. Zahir will visit the U.S. when his schedule allows, and that a visit is expected in the near future.
A U.S. official said: "The ball's in their court. We're ready to have him back."
Ripple EffectsFrayed U.S.-Pakistan ties continue to reverberate
May 2, 2011 U.S. raid kills Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad. No notice was given to Pakistan.
Nov. 26, 2011 U.S. airstrikes kill 24 Pakistani troops in strikes along the border along and between Afghanistan's Kunar Province and the Pakistani tribal area of Mohmand. Hours later, Pakistan closes the Afghan-Pakistan border crossing at Jamrud, in the Khyber tribal region near the city of Peshawar, to NATO supply convoys. It also closes the crossing at Chaman in Baluchistan province.
November Washington halts drone strikes in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, resuming them Jan. 10.
Dec. 11 Pakistan says U.S. completed pullout from air base in Shamsi, Pakistan, once used for drone operations. U.S. said it had curtailed use of the base months earlier.
U.S.-Pakistan Talks Hit Snag - WSJ.com
By ADAM ENTOUS And SIOBHAN GORMAN
WASHINGTON—U.S. and Pakistani officials have held secret exploratory talks on a new counterterrorism partnership, but that initiative and others are held up by the impasse over an American apology for the deaths last year of 24 Pakistani troops, both countries said.
The dispute over an apology for the Nov. 26 deaths—which Pakistan has demanded but which the White House has refused to give—has widening implications. It is delaying a deal to reopen critical supply routes for U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops in neighboring Afghanistan, U.S. and Pakistani officials say.
The dispute also makes reaching a deal on counterterrorism cooperation that much harder.
Senior U.S. officials in recent months have quietly sounded out their Pakistani counterparts about negotiating a broad accord intended to give Islamabad a greater role in what has largely been a unilateral U.S. drone campaign against Pakistan-based militants, participants in the preliminary talks say.
The proposals call for a joint military campaign against militants that would incorporate U.S. drones as well as Pakistani F-16s and ground forces, these officials say.
The Central Intelligence Agency, which pilots the hunter-killer drones in Pakistan, invited the new head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, Lt. Gen. Zaheerul Islam, to Washington last month to discuss counterterrorism cooperation, but the visit was postponed, reflecting the two countries' fraught relations.
A partnership with Pakistan on counterterrorism operations is critical, advocates say, to ensure that the U.S. can keep the pressure on al Qaeda and its allies as American and international forces gradually pull out of Afghanistan. Without a deal, they say, Pakistan could move to block CIA drone flights.
Islamabad has publicly called for the U.S. spy agency to halt all drone attacks on its territory but it hasn't taken any tangible steps to stop the flights.
The Pakistanis have in recent months grown so frustrated that they have explored options to counter the drones, including shooting them down and mounting a legal challenge to the program in the World Court as a violation of international law and of the United Nations Charter, say people familiar with the matter.
Senior U.S. and Pakistani officials acknowledge the difficulty of forging a real counterterrorism partnership given deep-seated Pakistani public opposition to U.S. drone operations.
Reflecting its frustration with Pakistan, the White House has authorized stepped-up CIA strikes in tribal areas bordering Afghanistan in recent weeks.
The hurdles to any deal are great, both sides acknowledge.
Vali Nasr, a former top Obama administration adviser on Pakistan, said the current U.S. strategy of "pressure, pressure and more pressure" is unlikely to lead to a "grand bargain" on the drone program and counterterrorism. "We can't even get out of the gate with an apology."
Moreover, officials say talks on a counterterrorism deal setting out the roles of U.S. and Pakistani forces would be complicated by disagreements between the countries over which militant groups should be targeted, officials say.
While U.S. officials believe Pakistan would consent to U.S. drone strikes targeting top al Qaeda leaders and Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, which is battling the Pakistani government, Islamabad has so far balked at strikes against the Haqqani network, which American officials say has long-standing ties to Pakistan's intelligence agency and is responsible for attacks against U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
To try to address Pakistanis' concerns that the drone strikes impinge on their sovereignty, U.S. officials have raised the possibility of a more collaborative approach under which U.S. drone operations could be conducted in concert with strikes from Pakistan's fleet of F-16s.
The U.S. would, in turn, share more intelligence with Pakistan to support operations by its air and ground forces, officials say. Intelligence sharing has been hampered in the past because of U.S. concerns that Pakistan will tip off wanted militants before the strikes take place.
The Obama administration has made clear that drone strikes will continue to target what remains of al Qaeda's network in the tribal areas of Pakistan, whether Islamabad agrees or not. But U.S. officials involved in the preliminary discussions believe the Pakistani government would be more receptive to cooperating if those operations were seen as part of a broader campaign supporting Pakistani forces. Officials said such a strategy could allow the Pakistanis to argue that the drone attacks aren't an affront to their sovereignty because they directly benefit Islamabad.
Advocates of such an arrangement acknowledge that reaching a deal may be a "long shot" in the near-term, but they want negotiations to begin.
U.S. officials said President Barack Obama was wary of apologizing to a country that continues to harbor militants. Such an apology at the height of a presidential campaign could expose him to criticism from Republicans.
The U.S. officials say they believe Pakistan postponed Lt. Gen. Zahir's visit to Washington because the government wants to settle other outstanding differences, including over the reopening of NATO supply routes into Afghanistan, before tackling thorny counter-terrorism issues, encompassing the drone program. The Pentagon said this week that it pulled U.S. negotiators.
Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S., Sherry Rehman, said the lack of an apology is holding up counterterrorism discussions. "We are committed to working with the international community to bring stability to the region, and this includes the U.S., of course," she said.
"The apology is holding up important discussions in many areas, including a broader conversation on counterterrorism cooperation. I hope we resume productive cooperation in many areas, but all of it will have to pass the test of transparency. Drone attacks need to cease, especially since most of al Qaeda has been destroyed, that too with our active cooperation."
A U.S. official said there "there's always room for discussion" with the Pakistanis on ways they can partner with the U.S. and "get more involved in the defense of their own country from terrorists." But the official said progress in this area tends to "happen incrementally" and that there were no active negotiations "when it comes to conducting the counterterrorism operations needed to protect the U.S. and its interests."
A Pakistani official said that a counterterrorism program using Islamabad's F-16s and the U.S.'s drones would only be acceptable if the Pakistanis were involved with the operations of both. The F-16s could be used in relatively unpopulated areas.
Among the proposals that were floated were a joint program run out of the Pakistani military's headquarters in Rawalpindi and a joint program run out of one of the border patrol outposts along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
The Pakistani official said Lt. Gen. Zahir will visit the U.S. when his schedule allows, and that a visit is expected in the near future.
A U.S. official said: "The ball's in their court. We're ready to have him back."
Ripple EffectsFrayed U.S.-Pakistan ties continue to reverberate
May 2, 2011 U.S. raid kills Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad. No notice was given to Pakistan.
Nov. 26, 2011 U.S. airstrikes kill 24 Pakistani troops in strikes along the border along and between Afghanistan's Kunar Province and the Pakistani tribal area of Mohmand. Hours later, Pakistan closes the Afghan-Pakistan border crossing at Jamrud, in the Khyber tribal region near the city of Peshawar, to NATO supply convoys. It also closes the crossing at Chaman in Baluchistan province.
November Washington halts drone strikes in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, resuming them Jan. 10.
Dec. 11 Pakistan says U.S. completed pullout from air base in Shamsi, Pakistan, once used for drone operations. U.S. said it had curtailed use of the base months earlier.
U.S.-Pakistan Talks Hit Snag - WSJ.com
. US is as cruel to drop bomb bombs on the residential areas of Afghan in chase of just 1-2 Taliban fighters, and similarly they are with other developing countries like India.........
do they want to use India as an arm of Christianity against Islam as Taliban does have good support from the civilians of Muslim nations? 
