| Page 2 of 2 < |
Mullen Visits Pakistan as U.S. Raids Stir Tensions
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Pakistan's army recently launched a series of large operations against Islamist militants in some tribal areas, but only after a long period of halfhearted or failed actions that have frustrated U.S. officials. At the same time, Pakistani officials have insisted that no foreign troops enter their sovereign territory. So the U.S. raids this month have put them in an awkward position.
"Every country has certain red lines. The army wants to have good relations with the U.S., but it cannot tolerate operations on its turf," said Talat Masood, a retired Pakistani general, speaking from Islamabad. "These American operations have caused a lot of collateral damage. . . . Some Pakistanis think the Americans may want to stabilize Afghanistan at the cost of destabilizing Pakistan."
Although Pakistani officials routinely declare support for the war against Islamist militants, they are keenly aware that public support for it in their country is deeply ambivalent and that Musharraf was ousted in part because many Pakistanis viewed him as doing America's bidding. The new president, Asif Ali Zardari, has said nothing about the U.S. raids and is increasingly criticized as being too close to Washington.
Some analysts said the new U.S.-Pakistan tensions might undermine what they called the growing success of Pakistani operations against militants.
"The U.S. actions show a lack of confidence in Pakistan, which the army must be very unhappy about, considering their increasingly successful attacks," said Shuja Nawaz, a Pakistani military scholar based in Washington. "My biggest fear is that people will latch onto this and turn it into a rallying cry against the government. It is a very dangerous moment, and if it is not smoothed over, U.S.-Pakistani relations are headed for a train wreck."
Staff writer Ann Scott Tyson at the Pentagon contributed to this report.
