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US military to be reduced in Pakistan: Mullen
WASHINGTON: Pakistan is going to reduce sharply the number of US military trainers allowed in the country, the top US military officer said on Thursday, acknowledging strains in the uneasy alliance a month after the killing of Osama bin Laden.Admiral Mike Mullen, outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, declined to offer figures on Pakistani plans to cut the military mission but said the number of US trainers was "not going to zero."
"There clearly is an ongoing contraction of that support ... and it is tied to the difficult time we are going through," Mullen, who steps down on Oct. 1, told defense reporters in Washington.
Pakistani and US military sources in Pakistan have said the training component of the US military mission in Pakistan numbered as high as about 150 in recent years and would be reduced to less than 50. It was about 70 in April.
Pressed for a figure, Mullen said only he saw "a very significant cutback" and refused to elaborate.
The reduction in US trainers is one of the tangible signs of a strained alliance that Washington still sees as critical to its success in the war in neighboring Afghanistan as well as the fight against al Qaeda and its affiliates.
Mullen renewed assurances the United States had no information that would implicate senior Pakistani military and political leadership, but acknowledged tensions between Washington and Islamabad remained high.
"We're going through a pretty tough time right now and that's going to continue," he said.
Mullen also appeared to ask for patience, amid demands from Congress for more concrete results of America's outreach to Pakistan that has included billions in US aid.
"I think it's probably too soon (for the relationship) to pay off, if you will. Because we haven't been re-engaged with them for that long," Mullen said, adding there had been only three or four years of serious re-engagement with Islamabad.
"I don't know what the right amount of time is but I know that sticking with it is absolutely vital." (Reuters)
Courtesy www.geo.tv