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The Pakistan-US ties became strained following
the May 2 commando raid to kill Al Qaeda leader
Osama bin Laden. It worsened after the Nov 26
NATO airstrike on two Pakistan Army checkposts
left two dozen soldiers dead, sparking outrage
in Pakistan.
"I can absolutely say that it wasn't something
that we did intentionally," the chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin E. Dempsey
told the Atlantic Council, a Washington think
tank Dec 9.
"Regrettably, the Pakistani military believes
we did. We did not attack a Pakistan military
border post intentionally. If you think we did,
I'd have to ask you what in the world you'd think
we would gain by doing that," he was quoted
as saying by the US defence department website.
Dempsey said he has spoken with Pakistani Chief
of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. Other
senior US officials have also spoken to their
Pakistani counterparts, urging restraint and patience
to let an inquiry board look into the incident
and present its findings, he said.
The US has invited Pakistan to participate in
reviewing the incident, but Pakistan has so far
declined, Pentagon officials said.
Meanwhile, State Department spokesperson Victoria
Nuland declined comment on Dempsey's "a mess"
remark saying "I'm not going to comment on
something I haven't seen".
"But you know where we are with Pakistan,
that this relationship is complicated, but it's
also essential to both the United States and Pakistan.
And we are working very hard to keep open channels
and to get back to work together."
Top US officials including Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton have "obviously been in constant
contact" with their counterparts in Pakistan
and "continuing our intensive engagement,"
she said.
As the US frankly admitted that the ties were
a mess, an influential think-tank rated a conflict
with Pakistan as among the top potential threats
facing the US in 2012, but downgraded the potential
for military escalation between Pakistan and India.
A survey by the Washington based Council on Foreign
Relations released Friday elevated the risk of
US conflict with Pakistan triggered by an attack
or counter-terrorism operation amid high tensions
in 2011.
But a severe India-Pakistan crisis that carries
risk of military escalation, triggered by major
terror attack was downgraded from the top to Tier
Two contingencies affecting countries of strategic
importance to the United States that do not involve
a mutual defence treaty commitment.
The Council's Centre for Preventive Action anonymously
surveyed US officials and experts to compile an
annual list of the most plausible conflicts for
the United States in the new year.
Besides a US conflict with Pakistan, the 2012
list elevated several contingencies to the top
tier of risks: an intensified euro crisis, which
could plunge the US back into recession; the threat
of a cyberattack; and a Saudi instability, which
would threaten global oil supplies.
Threats that remained at the top of the list
from last year included a potential incident between
the US and China involving US or allied forces,
internal instability in Pakistan, intensified
nuclear crises with Iran or North Korea, and a
spillover of drug-related violence from Mexico.
"The United States has a dismal record of
forecasting instability and conflicts. Presently
there is no systematic US government process linking
forecasting to contingency planning. This survey
is intended to meet that need," said CFR
fellow for conflict prevention Micah Zenko, who
conducted the survey.
(IANS)
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