Pakistan and the US had the same interest in Afghanistan in not allowing Al Qaeda to re-establish safe havens, but Pakistan also has an interest that is somewhat different than ours, and that is their strategic depth, Gen. David Petraeus said.

WASHINGTON: The US general who oversees the Afghan war has acknowledged that Pakistan has a reason to be concerned about its lack of strategic depth.

In two television interviews this weekend, Gen. David Petraeus also said that the Pakistani “security forces, have put a lot of short sticks into a lot of hornets’ nests over the course of that last 10 months” and they needed to consolidate their gains in those areas before taking up new operations.

Pakistan “has an interest that is somewhat different than ours, and that their strategic depth is and always has been for a country that’s very narrow and has its historic enemy to its east,” he told the PBS television.

“So again, we just have to appreciate this. The Pakistani army, the Frontier Corps, the security forces have put a lot of short sticks into a lot of hornets’ nests over the course of that last 10 months,” he told CNN.

“There’s a limit to how much you can do that without consolidating the gains in some areas and then, over time, as I mentioned, thinning out to enable you to go into other areas.”

The statements are an apparent endorsement of Islamabad’s position on two important issues: Pakistan has genuine interests in Afghanistan which need to be protected and Pakistan cannot send its troops to North Waziristan before consolidating its gains in South Waziristan and Swat.

Gen. Petraeus, as head of the US Central Command, is responsible for America’s war efforts in the greater Middle East region, which stretches from Syria to Pakistan. His endorsement of Pakistan’s positions indicates a positive change in the Pentagon towards Islamabad.

The change is also reflected in similar statements by other US officials, recognising Pakistan’s recent achievements in the war against terror, particularly the arrest of half a dozen senior Afghan Taliban leaders.

In his interview to CNN, Gen. Petraeus also emphasised Pakistan’s need for “leaving behind a sustainable security, a sustainable economic and social, political situation” in the areas where it has already sent its troops.

“So that you wouldn’t have to go back there in the future, but it’s something that can be sustained just by the forces that have been left behind.”

To PBS, the general said Pakistan and the US had the same interest in Afghanistan in not allowing Al Qaeda to re-establish safe havens.

“But Pakistan also has an interest that is somewhat different than ours, and that is their strategic depth,” he added. 
“This is not unique, of course, just to Afghanistan and Pakistan and throughout the world. We have interests, they have interests. What we want to do is find the conversion interest, understand where they are divergent and try to make progress together.” 
Gen. Petraeus also pointed to the Pakistani government’s realisation that internal extremists were directly threatening its existence.

“That has been a very impressive counter-insurgency operation,” he said of Pakistani military forces’ gains made against insurgents in Swat Valley.

Pakistan’s leaders, Gen. Petraeus said, were realising the truth of Defence Secretary Robert Gates’ assertion that Taliban, Al Qaeda and other extremists operating in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region share a symbiotic relationship and belonged to a syndicate of terrorism that threatened all law-abiding nations.

The US military commander also underlined America’s decisions not to walk away from Pakistan while talking about Islamabad’s reluctance to fully support Washington’s strategy for the Pak-Afghan region.

“But, again, look, we have a chequered past with Pakistan, and we need to be up front about it and recognise it. We’ve walked away from that country three different times, including after Charlie Wilson’s war after we established the Mujahideen,” he said.

In the same interview, the Centcom chief also mentioned that the US helped ISI create the extremists who were now threatening both countries.

“Our money, Saudi money, others joined together, helped the ISI, indeed, form these elements which then went in and threw the Soviets out of Afghanistan with our weaponry. And then we left and they were holding the bag,” he said.