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Mullen Asserts Pakistani Role in Attack on U.S. Embassy in Kabul
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/wo...us-embassy.htm
By ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: September 22, 2011
By ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: September 22, 2011
“With ISI support, Haqqani operatives planned and conducted that truck bomb attack, as well as the assault on our embassy,” Admiral Mullen told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “We also have credible evidence that they were behind the June 28th attack against the Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul and a host of other smaller but effective operations.”
In short, he said, “the Haqqani network acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Agency.”
The truck bomb attack that Admiral Mullen referred to occurred at a NATO outpost south of Kabul on Sept. 10, when a cargo vehicle packed with explosives killed at least five people and wounded 77 coalition troops. The injury toll was one of the worst for foreign forces in a single episode in the ten-year-old war.
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Admiral Mullen voiced a stern warning to Pakistan, who he said was undermining its own interests as well as the American interest in fighting terror networks in the region.
“In choosing to use violent extremism as an instrument of policy, the government of Pakistan, and most especially the Pakistani army and ISI, jeopardizes not only the prospect of our strategic partnership but Pakistan's opportunity to be a respected nation with legitimate regional influence,” he said. “They may believe that by using these proxies, they are hedging their bets or redressing what they feel is an imbalance in regional power. But in reality, they have already lost that bet.
“By exporting violence, they've eroded their internal security and their position in the region. They have undermined their international credibility and threatened their economic well-being.”
But he said he did not believe he had wasted his time by pouring so much effort into improving ties with Pakistan’s government.
“I've done this because I believe that a flawed and difficult relationship is better than no relationship at all,” he said. “Some may argue I've wasted my time, that Pakistan is no closer to us than before, and may now have drifted even further away. I disagree. Military cooperation again is warming.”
Mullen's prepared statement for the Armed Services Committee: http://www.senate.gov/~armed_service...2009-22-11.pdf
In short, he said, “the Haqqani network acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Agency.”
The truck bomb attack that Admiral Mullen referred to occurred at a NATO outpost south of Kabul on Sept. 10, when a cargo vehicle packed with explosives killed at least five people and wounded 77 coalition troops. The injury toll was one of the worst for foreign forces in a single episode in the ten-year-old war.
[..]
Admiral Mullen voiced a stern warning to Pakistan, who he said was undermining its own interests as well as the American interest in fighting terror networks in the region.
“In choosing to use violent extremism as an instrument of policy, the government of Pakistan, and most especially the Pakistani army and ISI, jeopardizes not only the prospect of our strategic partnership but Pakistan's opportunity to be a respected nation with legitimate regional influence,” he said. “They may believe that by using these proxies, they are hedging their bets or redressing what they feel is an imbalance in regional power. But in reality, they have already lost that bet.
“By exporting violence, they've eroded their internal security and their position in the region. They have undermined their international credibility and threatened their economic well-being.”
But he said he did not believe he had wasted his time by pouring so much effort into improving ties with Pakistan’s government.
“I've done this because I believe that a flawed and difficult relationship is better than no relationship at all,” he said. “Some may argue I've wasted my time, that Pakistan is no closer to us than before, and may now have drifted even further away. I disagree. Military cooperation again is warming.”