WASHINGTON — The U.S. and Pakistani governments moved swiftly Monday to say that a trove of leaked U.S. military documents paints a dated and incomplete portrait of Pakistan as an untrustworthy partner against militants who use the country as a safe zone.
Both countries said the secret documents don't reflect Pakistan's recent cooperation against militant networks on its side of the border with Afghanistan.
The Obama administration also acknowledged that despite a $7.5 billion aid package, U.S. authorities aren't fully satisfied with Pakistan's response.
"Our criticism has been relayed both publicly and privately," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. "We will continue to do so in order to move this relationship forward".
The documents released Sunday by WikiLeaks, a self-described online whistle-blower, are new grist for criticism that Pakistan lacks resolve against militant groups that were sometimes considered useful to Pakistan in the decades-old competition with India.
"Some of these documents reinforce a longstanding concern of mine about the supporting role of some Pakistani officials in the Afghan insurgency," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Monday. Levin said he urged a more forceful response during a visit to Pakistan this month.
Even so, the material is unlikely to change the current U.S. view that Pakistan is slowly shedding the impulse to play a double game in the U.S. struggle against the Taliban. The bulk of the material covers the period before Pakistan began large-scale military operations against some internal militant groups.
Pakistan's foreign ministry on Monday called the WikiLeaks documents "misplaced, skewed and contrary to the factual position on the ground".
Associated Press
