In a scathing indictment of Pakistan for continuing to host terrorist safe havens within its borders, United States Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, took strong issue with senior Pentagon officials.
The Pentagon officials argued for a strong strategic partnership with Pakistan and for an increase in US assistance to bolster Islamabad's counter-insurgency capacity.
Levin lectured both General David H Petraeus, US commander in Afghanistan and Michelle Flournoy, under secretary of defence for policy, who were testifying before his committee that "I am not willing to simply increase their capacity without some kind of understanding that that capacity is going to be used to end these safe havens, which are deadly to our people."
"I'm afraid that simply investing in their capacity is not what is needed at the moment in North Waziristan and down in Quetta with the Taliban," he said.
"Those folks, using those areas, are attacking our people and the Pakistanis basically have resisted going after them in those areas," he said.
Levin said, "They've done that for their own internal reasons and on the other hand, we've got to continue to find ways to impress upon them that their backyard is a one where snakes are permitted to continue to exist and these snakes are crossing the border."
The influential lawmaker, who's made several visits to Afghanistan and Pakistan said, "Pakistan may be looking the other way in that regard, but I don't think we can look the other way about what they are not doing in those areas."
Levin was responding to the contention by Flournoy that 'at the strategic level, what's needed is continued investment in the strategic partnership that we have been developing in Pakistan and very candid engagement with them on these issues to influence their will to go after the full range of groups that threaten both of us.'
"It means continued efforts to build their capacity with things like the Pakistani counter-insurgency fund, but not always efforts to build their military capacity but also their policies for governance and development in areas like the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) and others parts of northwest Pakistan to meet the basic needs of their people," she said.
Flournoy said, "We can't walk away from this problem and we believe that a strategy of engagement and investing in the partnership is the best way forward."
Levin's tough and cryptic response to the analogy of 'snakes in the backyard' was in reply to Petraeus's argument that 'the fact is, that the Pakistanis are the first to note that more needs to be done.'
"There is, I think," he said, "a growing recognition that you cannot allow poisonous snakes to have a nest in your backyard, even if they just bite the neighbour's kids because sooner or later they are going to turn around and cause problems in your backyard. And, that sadly had proven to be the case."
Petraeus noted, "We have conducted a great deal of coordination with our Afghan partners and ultimately, the way to influence Pakistan is to show that there can be a certain outcome in Afghanistan -- that means that there should be every effort to help their Afghan neighbours and indeed to ensure that they do that on their side of the border as well."
Flournoy assured Levin that "we are having extremely candid conversations about our expectations and what we would like to see our Pakistani partners do in areas like North Waziristan. Also, we are continuing to apply as much pressure are we can, both from the Afghanistan part of the border and also in terms of pressure on Al Qaeda and senior leadership in the border regions."
In a recent interview with rediff.com, Levin, one of the most respected voices on military affairs, said that he can appreciate India's concern over the massive American military largesse for Pakistan provided for counter-insurgency, particularly considered that credible reports have revealed that such aid has often been diverted for a potential military confrontation with India.
He said these reports were taken extremely seriously and closely monitored so that the massive security assistance to Pakistan that is provided specifically for counter-terrorism is used exclusively for that purpose.
When it was pointed out by rediff.com that the investigative watchdog arm of the US Congress, the Government Accountability Office that was commissioned to report on the US military aid provided to Pakistan over the past few years had reported that much of it had been diverted to beef up Pakistan's military for a potential conflict with India -- findings which Menendez had disclosed during private and public meetings of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee of which he was a member, Levin said he was familiar with these reports and findings.
"We take those reports and we raise them with the Pakistanis, and that we try to prevent any diversion of that support. That's what we do," he said.
Levin said, that he and the Armed Services Committee would "continue to closely monitor" this aid which continues to be provided to Pakistan and would try and make sure "that this aid is used for the specific purpose for which it is provided."
In their prepared testimony on Tuesday, both Petraeus and Flournoy unequivocally acknowledged the continuing terrorist havens in Pakistan.
Petraeus said, the US had positioned more forces "to interdict the flow of fighters and explosives from insurgent sanctuaries in Pakistan. And we will do further work with our Afghan partners to establish as much of a defense in depth as is possible to disrupt infiltration of Taliban and Haqqani Network members."
Flournoy said, "We must continue our efforts with Pakistan to eliminate the safe havens from which Al Qaeda senior leaders continue to operate and from which insurgents are able to launch attacks against Afghanistan, Pakistan and our own forces."
She said, "A lasting political solution in Afghanistan will require Pakistan to be part of the process. However, Pakistan will have to respect Afghan sovereignty and work with Afghanistan to improve regional stability. Additionally, Pakistan must take decisive steps to ensure that the Afghan Taliban cannot continue to conduct the insurgency from Pakistani territory."
Flournoy conceded that "Pakistan's will to confront extremist organisations, particularly those that it does not view as a direct threat to the Pakistani state, remains a key challenge."
"However, its deficiencies in capacity are even more daunting. Pakistan faces a determined, complex, and resilient set of insurgent enemies," she said, and noted, "Pakistan's military has historically focused on a major conventional land war with India and they still view India as their existential threat."
