Clinton urges Pakistan to implement reforms

[February 19, 2011]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Amid an escalating and potentially explosive diplomatic dispute, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that Pakistan risks major instability at home that will threaten the success of the U.S.-led war effort in next-door Afghanistan if it doesn't implement reforms and stop fomenting anti-American sentiment.

"Shocking, unjustified anti-Americanism will not resolve these problems," she said.

In a strongly worded speech to The Asia Society, Clinton said Pakistani cooperation is critical to the success of the fight against Taliban and al-Qaida extremists in Afghanistan.

She spoke as U.S.-Pakistan tensions are soaring over the killing of two Pakistanis by an American embassy worker.

Although she did not specifically mention the diplomatic impasse over the fate of a jailed American in Pakistan, Clinton was unusually blunt about Pakistan's responsibilities.

She cautioned against letting problems escalate into crises. The case has become a focal point for rampant suspicion about U.S. motives and activities in Pakistan, and U.S. insistence on a quick resolution has seemed to only harden Pakistani resolve not to bend.

"Distrust lingers on both sides," Clinton said. "We need to work together carefully to prevent misunderstandings and disagreements from derailing the progress we have made in the past two years."

Without serious efforts from Pakistan, a main thrust of the Afghan operation -- splitting Taliban fighters from hard-core al-Qaida members and drawing them back in society -- will not work, she said.

She also warned that Afghanistan's leaders themselves must reform and address rampant corruption if the roots of extremism are to be eliminated.

Relations with Pakistan have plummeted to their lowest point in recent years since the arrest of the embassy employee in Lahore. The employee, Raymond Allen Davis, shot and killed two Pakistani men he says were trying to rob him on Jan. 27.

The U.S. insists that Davis was acting in self-defense and qualifies for diplomatic immunity because he worked for the embassy. U.S. officials are demanding Davis be released immediately.

Pakistani authorities have refused thus far to release Davis and have questioned his immunity status while some in Washington complain the case is being manipulated to foment anger and draw attention away from domestic woes.

Despite an urgent diplomatic mission to Pakistan by Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry, the situation remains unresolved with the Pakistani government in a tight spot.

If it releases Davis, it risks angering violent elements in its population -- including the Taliban, who have threatened to attack any official involved in letting Davis go. The ruling party also risks further alienating voters already unhappy with its performance.

In Lahore, some 200 protesters associated with Jamaat-u-Dawa, a charity alleged to be a front for the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, demanded Davis be hanged.

Clinton noted that Pakistan's public finances are in disarray and that energy shortages are hampering economic growth and causing political instability there.

But whatever its problems, Pakistan has a responsibility to ensure that the Afghan Taliban cannot continue to conduct the insurgency from Pakistan's territory, Clinton said.

"Pressure from the Pakistani side will help push the Taliban toward the negotiating table and away from al-Qaida," she said.

She said the two groups are distinct and warned Taliban members that as the U.S. increases military pressure on them, they must choose between war by staying aligned with al-Qaida or peace by abandoning arms, renouncing terrorism and accepting the Afghan constitution.

"This is the price for reaching a political resolution and bringing an end to the military actions that are targeting their leadership and decimating their ranks," she said.

"They cannot wait us out. They cannot defeat us. And they cannot escape this choice."

The U.S. says it has the Taliban on the run in key areas of the country. Heavy fighting is expected this spring, along with a continued heavy reliance on unmanned drone attacks and secret ground raids targeting militant leaders along the Pakistan border.

The United States plans to begin withdrawing troops this summer, and President Barack Obama has promised that the U.S. combat role will end in 2014.

The administration will begin assessing conditions for possible troop drawdowns next month as it determines where Afghan security forces can take the lead.

The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, said last week that intelligence reports indicate Taliban leaders are worried and that there is "friction and discord" between the guerrillas in the field and their leadership in Pakistan.

Last year's troop surge, led by the United States, boosted the international fighting force in Afghanistan to about 150,000 troops. NATO and Afghan President Hamid Karzai hope to have more than 300,000 Afghan army and police in action by next autumn facing a much smaller organized insurgent force.

Last year was the deadliest of the nearly decade-long war for international troops, with more than 700 killed. This compares to about 500 in 2009, previously the worst year of the war. Record numbers of insurgents and civilians also have been killed.

Clinton also formally announced the appointment of retired veteran diplomat Marc Grossman to succeed the late Richard Holbrooke as the administration's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Holbrooke died in December.

[Associated Press; By MATTHEW LEE]

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