The United States has no choice but to keep up its alliance with Pakistan despite concerns over Islamabad's ties to Islamist militants, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday.
Panetta, speaking to an audience of military officers at the National Defense University, said relations with Pakistan were difficult because elements of the government had links with the Haqqani network, which is staging attacks on US-led troops in neighboring Afghanistan, and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), blamed for orchestrating attacks in India.
"What makes this complicated is that they have relationships with the Haqqanis, and the Haqqani tribe are going across the border and attacking our forces in Afghanistan," he said at the Washington insitution, which is tasked with providing training in national and international security for US and foreign officials.
"It's pretty clear that there's a relationship there," said Panetta, who appeared along with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the event.
What Panetta doesn't say here is even more important: somewhat unstable Middle East country with nuclear weapons that's the traditional enemy of one of our larger trading partners (India) is not somebody we can just put in the time out corner.
Better our friend so we can keep them close, than our enemy. Despite all the GOP grumbling, or in fact especially because of it. Probably why we're paying for their new dam project.
Even as U.S.-Pakistani cooperation on anti-terrorism programs is withering, the United States is considering backing the construction of a giant, $12 billion dam in Pakistan that would be the largest civilian aid project the U.S. has undertaken here in decades.
Supporters of a U.S. role in the project say American participation would mend the United States' tattered image, going a long way toward quieting widespread anti-Americanism amid criticism that the U.S. lavishes money on Pakistan's military while doing little for the country's civilian population.
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