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By Ankit Panda
Robert Gates doesn’t trust Pakistan and neither should the United States.
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has been making splashes in the media ahead of the release of his memoir of his time in office, Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War. While much attention has been drawn to Gates’ critiques of the Obama administration, including the president’s leadership style, relatively little attention has been given – at least in the U.S. press – to Gates’ thoughts on the ever-troubling U.S.-Pakistan alliance. Gates reveals that in the final years of his tenure, he was convinced of Pakistan’s pursuit of objectives that were directly contrary to U.S. interests, including supporting the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani network, and anti-India terror groups.
In Duty, Gates writes: “Although I would defend them in front of Congress and to the press to keep the relationship from getting worse – and endangering our supply line from Karachi – I knew they were really no ally at all.” Gates qualifies his beliefs about Pakistan’s intentions by referring to a January 2010 visit to the country, when he interacted with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, and Chief of Army Staff Ashfaq Parvez Kayani – men who are no longer in power in Pakistani politics. Gates, however, remained silent about his reservations on Pakistan during his tenure as Secretary of Defense– always appearing to support the alliance.
Read the full story at The Diplomat