WASHINGTON: The United States is examining ways to mitigate any Pakistaniretaliation as it piles pressure on Islamabad to crack down on militants, asenior US official said on Friday, cautioning that US action could extendbeyond a new freeze in aid.
Pakistan is a crucial gateway for US military supplies destined for the USand other troops fighting a 16-year-old war in neighbouring, landlockedAfghanistan.
So far, the Pentagon says Pakistan has not given any indication that itwould close its airspace or roads to military supplies and US DefenceSecretary Jim Mattis played down concerns on Friday.
But Washington has only just begun to work through its new plan to suspendup to roughly $2 billion in US security assistance, announced on Thursday.It came days after US President Donald Trump tweeted that Pakistan hadrewarded past US aid with “nothing but lies & deceit”.
The senior Trump administration official, who spoke on condition ofanonymity, told Reuters Washington hoped that the aid suspension would beenough to communicate its concern to Islamabad.
But the official cautioned that the freeze was also not the only tool thatAmerica had to pressure the country — suggesting it might resort to othermeasures, if needed.
“We are considering many different things, not just the (financial)assistance issue,” the official said.
“We are also looking at Pakistan’s potential response … and we are lookingat ways to deal with that and to mitigate the risks to the relationship.”
The official declined to detail what steps were under consideration,including whether that might include possible unilateral US military actionagainst militants in Pakistan.
But as Trump allow the US military to again ramp up its war effort inAfghanistan, including with the deployment of more US troops alongsideAfghan forces, the official acknowledged a sense of urgency.
The United States has long blamed the alleged militant safe havens inPakistan for prolonging the war in Afghanistan, giving insurgents,including from the Haqqani network, a place to plot attacks and rebuild itsforces.
“We believe we owe it to the Americans in harms’ way in Afghanistan. Wesimply can’t ignore the sanctuaries if we are going to make progress inAfghanistan,” the official said.
MATTIS PLAYS DOWN CONCERNS:
Mattis, speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, said he was not concernedabout America’s ability to use Pakistan as a gateway to resupply US forcesin Afghanistan.
“I‘m not concerned, no,” Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon, adding hehad not gotten any indication from Pakistan that it might cut off thoseroutes. Mattis travelled to Pakistan last month.
“We’re still working with Pakistan and we would restore the aid if we seedecisive movements against the terrorists — who are as much a threatagainst Pakistan as they are to us.”
The United States has also said some of the frozen aid could be released ona case-by-case basis, and none of it will be spent elsewhere — leaving thedoor open to full reconciliation.
The Pakistani reaction has so far been limited to harsh rhetoric, withForeign Minister Khawaja Asif saying the United States was behaving towardPakistan as “a friend who always betrays”.
But opposition leader Imran Khan, a former cricket star tipped as the nextPakistani prime minister, said it was time for Pakistan to “delink” fromthe United States.
The senior Trump administration official who spoke on condition ofanonymity acknowledged that a Pakistani cut-off would greatly complicate USresupply efforts in Afghanistan.
The official said the administration was developing “risk mitigationplans,” but acknowledged that examination of a northern network ofalternative routes used in the past was “still at a very broad level”.
“If something were to happen to the ground lines of communication orairlines of communication through Pakistan, certainly that would be verydifficult for the US and we would have to look for alternatives,” theofficial said.
“And it would not be easy.”