The Obama Administration is quickly trying to contain the damage in another potential foreign policy debacle, this time with nuclear-armed Pakistan. Last week, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, dropped a bombshell that rocked U.S.-Pakistani relations.
In testimony before Congress, Mullen declared that the military intelligence service of this supposed U.S. partner is directing the Haqqani network, a militant group responsible for attacks on Americans, including the 20-hour assault on the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, that left 27 dead.
The revelation causes immediate concern for the United States, and The Heritage Foundation believes it must result in punitive policy toward Pakistan if Islamabad continues its pattern of defiance. Yet Administration officials, quoted anonymously in a front-page Washington Post story this morning, hit out at the messenger, Admiral Mullen. One told the paper that Admiral Mullen “overstates the case.” This Pentagon official admitted that, yes, the Pakistanis have been “guiding Haqqani and using them for their purposes,” but somehow this does not involve killing Americans.
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