US will not walk away this time, says Gates

WASHINGTON - Defence Secretary Robert Gates said that the strong anti-American feelings expressed by the Pakistani people in a new public opinion poll were understandable since the US has abandoned the South Asian country twice in the last three decades as he called for efforts to win their trust.
His comments came in response to a new Pew Research Centre survey that found 64 per cent of Pakistanis see the United States as an enemy, but still 53 per cent wanted improved relations.
The poll saying only nine per cent of Pakistanis see the US as a partner is disturbing to defence leaders, but not surprising, Gates said during a Pentagon news conference Thursday. First of all, one of the reasons that the Pakistanis have concerns about us is that we walked away from them twice, he said.
We walked away from them after the Soviets left Afghanistan, and we walked away from them through the 1990s, because of the Pressler Amendment, he said, referring to US sanctions on Pakistan over its nuclear programme.
So, our military-to-military relations were significantly interrupted, Gates said. I think that the Pakistanis, with some legitimacy, question how long are we prepared to stay there? They also now wonder whether the war in neighbouring Afghanistan is the only reason for current interest.
So I think its going to take us some time to rebuild confidence of the Pakistani people that we are a long-term friend and ally of Pakistan, he said.
The United States considers Pakistan a key ally in its fight against Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants. Gates said he is considering visiting Pakistan in the next eight months.
The poll also shows that the Pakistani people have given strong support to the counterinsurgency battle going on in northwestern Pakistan, Gates said.
There seems to be, more than I think any of us would have expected six months ago, broad political support for what the Pakistani military is doing in the west, he said. That change - plus the success of Pakistani forces - serves US and Pakistani interests. My hope is that over time, we will be able to demonstrate, to the Pakistanis, that we are a reliable ally that they can count on for the long term, he said.
Monitoring Desk adds: Observing that Pakistan is a 'critical country for the US in the long run, a top American General has said Washington wants to have a long-term partnership with Islamabad.
Chairman of the US Chief of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said Americas trust deficit with Pakistan is quite low and that the US is 'digging itself out of a hole that it dug into. America had abandoned Pakistan for 12 years from 1990 to 2002 'so the trust deficient is pretty significant, Mullen claimed, reported Press Trust of India (PTI).
This is a country that is a critical country. I believe we have to have a long-term partnership with, and were just starting that, he said. The top American General said his frequent visits to Pakistan were aimed at building up relationship between the two countries, especially between the two armies.
Speaking in Washington, he said the popularity of Pakistan military had jumped quite significantly recently after its crackdown on the militants. A year ago the popularity of the Pakistani military in terms of fighting the insurgents was in pretty low numbers, on the order of 10 to 15 to 20 per cent. Now, its routinely above 80 per cent.
Thats a pretty dramatic turnaround and it has made its ability to fight much easier and much more acceptable to the Pakistani people, Mullen said. I think in our relationship with Pakistan, the measure will be in the long run is the Pakistani people, do they support a strong relationship with the US, of America and that I think is still out there to be decided, Mullen said.
Mullen who has been to Pakistan over a dozen times in the last one year, said: It is all about the relationship between our countries, which is what I am spending my time on, most of that being with the head of their army, who is the senior military officer and most influential officer in the Pakistani military.
Observing that it is much more than just military because there is a civilian component here as well, Mullen asserted that Pakistan is a critical country for the US in the long run. In fact, there are those who would argue we are still digging ourselves out of a hole and we have not even gotten to ground zero yet. They are critically important in that region - their relationship with India is a big deal and they have a significant, and they believe existential threat from India, he said.