Fighting insurgency: ‘US trying to improve Pakistan’s capability’

Partnership to not only improve military capability, but also capacity to meet legitimate needs of the people.

WASHINGTON: The United States is trying not only to improve Pakistan’s military capability to deal with an insurgency but also boost the Pakistani government’s capacity to meet the legitimate needs of its people in an effort to build an “enduring” relationship, a State Department spokesman said on Tuesday.

“We are moving forward with a strategic partnership not only to continue to help Pakistan improve its military capability to confront an insurgency which is a threat to Pakistan as well as other countries. And most importantly, to build up the capacity of the Pakistani government to be able to serve the legitimate needs of the Pakistani people. We have put a significant amount of money forward,” spokesperson Philip Crowley said in response to a question at the Foreign Press Centre.

The spokesperson was asked about US role in securing amnesty for former president Pervez Musharraf as reported in the State Department’s cables released by WikiLeaks.

“In my view, judge the United States by its actions. And Pakistan is a perfect example where the United States has worked to help it restore civilian government, from what amounted to a military dictatorship,” Crowley said.

“We recognise that the Pakistani people are sceptical,” he acknowledged. “We understand that. We are going to work hard in a sustained effort over time to try to convince Pakistan that this is a relationship that we believe will be enduring and will serve the interests of the Pakistani people, the American people, and other people in the region and around the world.”

Crowley also admitted the damage done by the release of the cables.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2010.