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Closing NATO routes tells a lot about US-Pakistan relationship: General Dempsey
WASHINGTON: Dubbing the current state of US-Pakistan relations as "strained", US Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey reiterated that the US did not deliberately attack the Pakistani border post on November 26. He added that closing supply routes said a lot about the US relationship with Pakistan.
In an event organised by the think-tank Atlantic Council, General Dempsey said that it was regrettable that Pakistan's military thought that the attack on the border post was intentional. "They believe we did this intentionally, in some way or the other to discredit them or to goad them into further action." He said it was incomprehensible for him that Pakistan believed that, based on the United States' efforts to build the relationship over time. "If you think we did, I have to ask, what in the world would we hope to gain from doing this." General Dempsey said, "As I sit here today, I don't know what happened in the NATO airstrike."
Recalling that General Kayani and him were batch mates at Fort Leavenworth, he said that he had spoken to him after the NATO airstrikes, and other US officials had also been in touch with their Pakistani counterparts.
In response to a question posed by David Ignatius, a Washington Post columnist and moderator of the event on the closure of the supply routes by Pakistan, General Dempsey said that the US could work out how to send supplies in Afghanistan through other options, which included via air and other countries. He added that they could adjust the supply routes for NATO, but said it would be more expensive.
"The real problem for me is not the cost"¦what's troubling to me is that Pakistan would close the routes and what it says about the relationship"¦and we need to try and get through that," General Dempsey said.
Alluding to the torching of NATO oil tankers, the US military chief said the US does not pay for the fuel until it gets delivered. He said there was a need to understand what was going on.
In response to another question, he said sanctuaries for insurgents persisted in Pakistan, and that the US needed to control their influence in Afghanistan. He also added that he believed that the military aspects of the surge in Afghanistan have achieved their purpose.
Closing NATO routes tells a lot about US-Pakistan relationship: General Dempsey – The Express Tribune
WASHINGTON: Dubbing the current state of US-Pakistan relations as "strained", US Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey reiterated that the US did not deliberately attack the Pakistani border post on November 26. He added that closing supply routes said a lot about the US relationship with Pakistan.
In an event organised by the think-tank Atlantic Council, General Dempsey said that it was regrettable that Pakistan's military thought that the attack on the border post was intentional. "They believe we did this intentionally, in some way or the other to discredit them or to goad them into further action." He said it was incomprehensible for him that Pakistan believed that, based on the United States' efforts to build the relationship over time. "If you think we did, I have to ask, what in the world would we hope to gain from doing this." General Dempsey said, "As I sit here today, I don't know what happened in the NATO airstrike."
Recalling that General Kayani and him were batch mates at Fort Leavenworth, he said that he had spoken to him after the NATO airstrikes, and other US officials had also been in touch with their Pakistani counterparts.
In response to a question posed by David Ignatius, a Washington Post columnist and moderator of the event on the closure of the supply routes by Pakistan, General Dempsey said that the US could work out how to send supplies in Afghanistan through other options, which included via air and other countries. He added that they could adjust the supply routes for NATO, but said it would be more expensive.
"The real problem for me is not the cost"¦what's troubling to me is that Pakistan would close the routes and what it says about the relationship"¦and we need to try and get through that," General Dempsey said.
Alluding to the torching of NATO oil tankers, the US military chief said the US does not pay for the fuel until it gets delivered. He said there was a need to understand what was going on.
In response to another question, he said sanctuaries for insurgents persisted in Pakistan, and that the US needed to control their influence in Afghanistan. He also added that he believed that the military aspects of the surge in Afghanistan have achieved their purpose.
Closing NATO routes tells a lot about US-Pakistan relationship: General Dempsey – The Express Tribune