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US military chief says ties with Pak in ‘mess’
In a candid public statement, US military chief Gen Martin E Dempsey has said that US-Pakistan military-to-military relations “are a mess” in the wake of the NATO airstrike last month that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
“I can absolutely say that it wasn’t something that we did intentionally,” Dempsey said during an event at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank.
“Regrettably, the Pakistani military believes we did. We did not attack a Pakistan military border post intentionally,” he said, posing the question: “If you think we did, I’d have to ask you what in the world you’d think we would gain by doing that.”
Urging Pakistan to show patience and restraint to let the ongoing inquiry to come up with its findings on the airstrike, Dempsey said:
“What we’re trying to do is show some patience, asking them to show some patience, and then we’ll try to get back in touch with each other and see if we can work through it.”
Then, in a tone of exasperation, he commented: “But yeah, it is a mess.”
Dempsey, who took over as the US Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff from Admiral Mike Mullen a little over two months ago, said he has spoken with Pakistani Army Chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, while other senior US officials have also spoken with their Pakistani counterparts, but the crisis is far from resolved. Pakistan has refused to participate in the US probe into the NATO episode.
The United States, Dempsey remarked, is sometimes a victim of its own success, with the world overestimating American military capabilities in the midst of the confusion of war.
“The rest of the world sees us as completely all-knowing, all-seeing, completely precise,” he said. “You know, look, warfare is really, when you really get down and touch it, it’s just ugly, and it’s messy, and it’s unpredictable, and it’s chaotic, and there’s fog, and there’s friction.”
In the course of his observations, Dempsey also made the point that Pakistan still has sanctuaries for militants and the US needs to work hard to end their influence on its Afghan mission.
In the wake of Pakistan shutting down supply lines for coalition forces in Afghanistan, Dempsey said the US is working on alternative routes.
“We can change the percentages of our reliance upon the Pakistani line of communication,” he said, adding: “We can adjust and we can get it done. It will be more expensive. It will be time-consuming but we have the time to do it.”
In a candid public statement, US military chief Gen Martin E Dempsey has said that US-Pakistan military-to-military relations “are a mess” in the wake of the NATO airstrike last month that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
“I can absolutely say that it wasn’t something that we did intentionally,” Dempsey said during an event at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank.
“Regrettably, the Pakistani military believes we did. We did not attack a Pakistan military border post intentionally,” he said, posing the question: “If you think we did, I’d have to ask you what in the world you’d think we would gain by doing that.”
Urging Pakistan to show patience and restraint to let the ongoing inquiry to come up with its findings on the airstrike, Dempsey said:
“What we’re trying to do is show some patience, asking them to show some patience, and then we’ll try to get back in touch with each other and see if we can work through it.”
Then, in a tone of exasperation, he commented: “But yeah, it is a mess.”
Dempsey, who took over as the US Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff from Admiral Mike Mullen a little over two months ago, said he has spoken with Pakistani Army Chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, while other senior US officials have also spoken with their Pakistani counterparts, but the crisis is far from resolved. Pakistan has refused to participate in the US probe into the NATO episode.
The United States, Dempsey remarked, is sometimes a victim of its own success, with the world overestimating American military capabilities in the midst of the confusion of war.
“The rest of the world sees us as completely all-knowing, all-seeing, completely precise,” he said. “You know, look, warfare is really, when you really get down and touch it, it’s just ugly, and it’s messy, and it’s unpredictable, and it’s chaotic, and there’s fog, and there’s friction.”
In the course of his observations, Dempsey also made the point that Pakistan still has sanctuaries for militants and the US needs to work hard to end their influence on its Afghan mission.
In the wake of Pakistan shutting down supply lines for coalition forces in Afghanistan, Dempsey said the US is working on alternative routes.
“We can change the percentages of our reliance upon the Pakistani line of communication,” he said, adding: “We can adjust and we can get it done. It will be more expensive. It will be time-consuming but we have the time to do it.”
