ISLAMABAD: With facts surfacing about Jalal-ud-Din Haqqani being a
former blue eyed of the Americans, Obama administration has started
reviewing its stance based on Admiral Mike Mullen’s “overstatement” now
under scrutiny.
Besides unveiling of the facts about Haqqani
and his so-called network, the expression of unity on part of the
Pakistani nation in defence of its sovereignty has forced the Americans
to back off from their aggressive stance threatening unilateral actions
inside Pakistan.
In addition to the web-searched picture of
Haqqani with the US President Ronald Reagan, media kept on digging more
about connections of the US and the Haqqanis. A master piece in this
regard is available on Wikkipedia’s page for Haqqani. It reads “The
influential U.S. Congressman, Charlie Wilson, who helped to direct tens
of millions dollars to the Afghan resistance, was so enamored of
Haqqani that he referred to him as "goodness personified.”
“It
appears that Americans would now intend to hush this entire matter up
by making retiring admiral a scapegoat for his statement alleging
Pakistan that is now described as an overstatement,” a key member of
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gailani’s cabinet told Online on Wednesday.
An influential American newspaper reported on Tuesday September 27,
that statement of Admiral Mullen has become under scrutiny. “Adm. Mike
Mullen’s assertion last week that an anti-American insurgent group in
Afghanistan is a “veritable arm” of Pakistan’s spy service was
overstated and contributed to overheated reactions in Pakistan and
misperceptions in Washington, according to American officials involved
in US policy in the region.
The internal criticism by the
officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not
want to challenge Mullen openly, reflects concern over the accuracy of
Mullen’s characterizations at a time when Obama administration
officials have been frustrated in their efforts to persuade Pakistan to
break its ties to Afghan insurgent groups, it reported.
The
administration has long sought to pressure Pakistan, but to do so in a
nuanced way that does not sever the U.S. relationship with a country
that American officials see as crucial to winning the war in
Afghanistan and maintaining long-term stability in the region.
According
to the paper, Mullen’s testimony to a Senate committee was widely
interpreted as an accusation by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff that Pakistan’s military and espionage agencies sanction and
direct bloody attacks against U.S. troops and targets in Afghanistan.
Such interpretations prompted new levels of indignation among senior
officials in both the United States and Pakistan.
Mullen’s
language “overstates the case,” said a senior Pentagon official with
access to classified intelligence files on Pakistan, because there is
scant evidence of direction or control. If anything, the official said,
the intelligence indicates that Pakistan treads a delicate if
duplicitous line, providing support to insurgent groups including the
Haqqani network but avoiding actions that would provoke a U.S.
response……..
A senior aide to Mullen defended the chairman’s
testimony, which was designed to prod the Pakistanis to sever ties to
the Haqqani group if not contain it by force. “I don’t think the
Pakistani reaction was unexpected,” said Capt. John Kirby. “The
chairman stands by every word of his testimony.”
US military
officials said that Mullen’s testimony before the Senate Armed Services
Committee has been misinterpreted, and that his remark that the Haqqani
network had carried out recent truck-bomb and embassy attacks “with ISI
support” was meant to imply broad assistance, but not necessarily
direction by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency. But Mullen
seemed to take the allegation an additional step, saying that the
Haqqani network “acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan’s Inter-Services
Intelligence agency,” a phrase that implies ISI involvement and
control.
“This is not new,” the official said. “Can they
control them like a military unit? We don’t think so. Do they encourage
them? Yes. Do they provide some finance for them? Yes. Do they provide
safe havens? Yes.” That nuance escaped many in Congress and even some
in the Obama administration, who voiced concern that the escalation in
rhetoric had inflamed anti-American sentiment in Pakistan.
U.S.
officials said that even evidence that has surfaced since Mullen’s
testimony is open to differences in interpretation, including
cellphones recovered from gunmen who were killed during the assault on
the U.S. Embassy.
One official said the phones were used to
make repeated calls to numbers associated with the Haqqani network, as
well as presumed “ISI operatives.” But the official declined to explain
the basis for that conclusion.
The senior Pentagon official
treated the assertion with skepticism, saying the term “operatives”
covers a wide range of supposed associates of the ISI. “Does it mean
the same Haqqani numbers [also found in the phones], or is it actually
uniformed officers” of Pakistan’s spy service? U.S. officials said
Mullen was unaware of the cellphones until after he testified. Online
