A strategic Blunder

[ProudPakistani]

Robert Gates: US regrets 'grave mistakes' in Pakistan


The US defence secretary Robert Gates apologised for America's "grave" mistakes in Pakistan and Afghanistan before the launch of the US 'war on terror' in 2001.

Mr Gates was visiting Pakistan where he was seeking to bolster ties with Washington's key ally in the fight against al-Qaeda.

In his first visit to the country in three years and first under US President Barack Obama, Mr Gates tried to reassure a public and leadership wary of Washington's plan to tackle militancy and turn around the war in Afghanistan.

"I was in government in the early 1990s, when Russia left the region and the United States largely abandoned Afghanistan and cut off defence ties with Pakistan - a grave strategic mistake driven by some well-intentioned but short-sighted US legislative and policy decisions," said Mr Gates.

Speaking at the National Defense University in Islamabad, he said a US ban on military contacts in the 1990s over Pakistan's nuclear programme undermined a bond between the armed forces and created a "trust deficit" that lingered.

He vowed the United States was "prepared to invest whatever time and energy it takes to forge and sustain a genuine, lasting partnership" with Pakistan.

Rebuilding relationships with a generation of Pakistani officers who have had little contact with the US military will take years, Mr Gates said.

US regrets over Strategic Mistake

 

[ProudPakistani]

US is still being tracked with suspicion within the Pakistani Military Establishment because of what US Senator Pressler and his supporters did when the US ditched the soviets with the Help of Pakistan and then left it all alone in the wilderness ...

THE PRESSLER AMENDMENT AND PAKISTAN'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM

 

[Feanor]

Given the instability of the region, and Pakistan in particular, it's ability to function as a rational unitary state actor is questionable. Hence the distrust.

 

[Spetsznaz]

Robert Gates: US regrets 'grave mistakes' in Pakistan


The US defence secretary Robert Gates apologised for America's "grave" mistakes in Pakistan and Afghanistan before the launch of the US 'war on terror' in 2001.

Mr Gates was visiting Pakistan where he was seeking to bolster ties with Washington's key ally in the fight against al-Qaeda.

In his first visit to the country in three years and first under US President Barack Obama, Mr Gates tried to reassure a public and leadership wary of Washington's plan to tackle militancy and turn around the war in Afghanistan.

"I was in government in the early 1990s, when Russia left the region and the United States largely abandoned Afghanistan and cut off defence ties with Pakistan - a grave strategic mistake driven by some well-intentioned but short-sighted US legislative and policy decisions," said Mr Gates.

Speaking at the National Defense University in Islamabad, he said a US ban on military contacts in the 1990s over Pakistan's nuclear programme undermined a bond between the armed forces and created a "trust deficit" that lingered.

He vowed the United States was "prepared to invest whatever time and energy it takes to forge and sustain a genuine, lasting partnership" with Pakistan.

Rebuilding relationships with a generation of Pakistani officers who have had little contact with the US military will take years, Mr Gates said.

US regrets over Strategic Mistake

As I see your new, please don't double post, but rather use the edit button

I don't really understand your point with this article, all you did was just copy and paste the thing

 

[ProudPakistani]

Given the instability of the region, and Pakistan in particular, it's ability to function as a rational unitary state actor is questionable. Hence the distrust.

I think , with the US supporting the Indian cause in afghanistan , the trust deficit is increasing , owing to the Fact that both Pakistan and India are traditional rivals who have competed in almost every sphere ..!

 

[Feanor]

How is the US supporting an Indian cause in Afghanistan? Are you honestly so far detached from the realities of US policies that you think NATO and US operations in Afghan are about some Indian interest?

 

[OPSSG]

I think , with the US supporting the Indian cause in afghanistan , the trust deficit is increasing , owing to the Fact that both Pakistan and India are traditional rivals who have competed in almost every sphere ..!

Typical candidate that should be groomed for future leadership - you'll have a bright future in Iran too to help them with press relations.

 

[SURB]

I think , with the US supporting the Indian cause in afghanistan , the trust deficit is increasing , owing to the Fact that both Pakistan and India are traditional rivals who have competed in almost every sphere ..!

India is the new strategic partner of USA in this region and that answers the question of support for india in regional politics.

 

[Xeon_Laura]

I think , with the US supporting the Indian cause in afghanistan , the trust deficit is increasing , owing to the Fact that both Pakistan and India are traditional rivals who have competed in almost every sphere ..!

but indians dont send terrorist or train them to destroy pakistan
but it cant be said from the pakistan counterpart.
evrytime some terrorist tries to infilitrate ,pakistan army border posts fires at the indian side to make distraction and help the infilitrators.
indian government has the complete control over indian armed forces and RAW.
i dont think pakistan government has complete control over its armed forces and ISI

 

[Ray17]

One can't trust a govt that is not a govt by itself.

It is immense difficult to trust a govt, even if democratically elected, which is controlled by the Army and the ISI by proxy.

One has to read Musharraf's 'In the Line of Fire', wherein the govt has to consult the Army on foreign policy etc. It was so in Ayub Kahn's time too!

Therefore, if a foreign govt has to talk to Pakistan, they do not know to which power base one has to talk too and if they talk to all, it still may not be a solution.

It has nothing to do with US and India!

As the saying goes - Sow and ye shall reap!


Further, Pakistan is too complicated an issue. The Taliban is anti Army interventions in NWFP and FATA and yet are supported by the ISI since they are 'strategic assets', the Pakistan population is against any support to the US (read their vernacular media), the Sunnis are killing the Shias, the Balochis are up in arms and seething as much as the Northern Area people, who call themselves as Balwaristan and then the Sindhis have stalled the Kalbagh Dam as it would only benefit the Pakistani Punjabis!

The Mohajirs are outcastes! They are detested as usurpers since they are more educated and intelligent than the original people what constitutes Pakistan who are overpowered by feudal interest!

Zia, the military dictator promoted Islamic ideal so that his position was safe.

Therefore, there are too many interests at work.

Hence, one can't blame others for Pakistan's woes!

 

[Ray17]

Even after the US withdrew her interests In Afghanistan, Zia played the field and tried to foist Gulbuddin Hematyar, a close associate of Osama the brigand.

If the ISI wants to shore up its 'strategic assets', why blame others for Pakistan's woes?

And anyway, the Pakistanis are all for the Taliban and terrorists as per the vernacular press.

Check Daily Times of Pakistan! There is a columnist who comments on the Urdu media.

 

[Xeon_Laura]

when hilary clinton visited pakistan
she only had a half an hour to 1 hour interaction with t pakistan government officials(PM,foriegn minister etc)
while spending several hours discussing with pakistan army chief.

 

[Ray17]

One wonders if the US has done a strategic blunder.

If one takes a view of this ‘blunder’, one would observe that it is no blunder at all. Instead, it was a strategic necessity. The US has to ensure that neither Pakistan nor China become a key player to upset the US strategic interests in this region. Pakistan plays a major role since it is the home for the Taliban and the AQ and for the US it is essential to check, if not destroy the Taliban and the AQ. Pakistan is also essential in the US scheme of things to check China because if Pakistan gives undue strategic and economic leeway to China, it would make the US effort all the more cumbersome and wieldy. Some reasons how China can challenge the US in Pakistan and in the Indian Ocean Region with collusion of Pakistan:

1. China has built/ building the deep water port in Gwadar next to the Straits of Hormuz. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, an average of about 15 tankers carrying 16.5 to 17 million barrels of crude oil normally pass through the strait every day, making it one of the world's most strategically important choke points. This represents 40% of the world's seaborne oil shipments, and 20% of all world shipments. Therefore, the US could not ignore the Chinese presence at Gwadar since she could also use for its Navy, now that China is aspiring for a blue water Navy and already made her presence felt off the Coast of Somalia.
2. China is building a highway and oil pipeline north to the Karakorum Pass and onto China. Strategically, if this oil can be choked off for whatever the reason, it could arm-twist China to a great extent.
3. China and Iran have some ‘understanding’, while the US find Iran out of favour because of Iran’s attempt to become a nuclear state. The US and the West have imposed sanctions on Iran. Therefore, if China imports oil and gas from Iran through the Strait of Hormuz or through the pipeline, Iran would have adequate finances to accelerate its nuclear weapon capability. Pakistan also played a role in mooting the Iran – Pakistan – India oil and gas pipeline.
4. China already has a listening post in Gwadar aimed to monitor US activities in the IOR and in the Middle East.
5. Whoever controls the Indian Ocean dominates Asia. This ocean is the key to the seven seas in the twenty-first century, the destiny of the world will be decided in these waters," said US Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan more than a century ago. Therefore, China is making attempts to compensate her inability to dominate the IOR (Indian Ocean Region) with a bluewater navy with her “String of Pearls” strategy, wherein she has a base of sorts in Gwadar, interest in the Maldive, the Hambantota port in Sri Lanka is being developed by China and China is a supplier of military wares to Sri Lanka (Pakistan, it is said to have been exerting influence in both the Maldives and Sri Lanka), Sittwe Port, Coco Island, Burma Hianggyi, Khaukphyu, Mergui and Zadetkyi are the main names associated with Chinese interest in Myanmar. Myanmar also serves as a gateway to South East Asia and ASEAN and is supposed to be the Eastern Flank to the Bay of Bengal. In Myanmar, from these ports. China has built a highway and a pipeline going into China.
Currently, the US dominates the IOR. Therefore, to believe that the US will abdicate this pre-eminence to China is a pipedream and so she will effectively block Chinese domination.

Pakistan plays a key role in the US scheme of things and hence requires to be kept in check and in the sphere of influence.

Therefore, it is not a strategic blunder.

JMT