Why US is 'grateful' to Pakistani authorities

The 'trust deficit' between the United States and Pakistan has seemingly evaporated after the strategic dialogue between Washington and Islamabad in March, that also featured Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and Inter Services Intelligence director general Shujat Ahmad Pasha.

If the remarks of Daniel Benjamin, the State Department's coordinator for counter-terrorism are anything to go by, the US no longer is suspicious of Pakistan playing a double game in the US-led war on terror.

Benjamin, in a major address titled 'Counter-terrorism in the Obama Administration: Tacts and Strategy' and in the interaction that followed, showered kudos ad infinitum on Islamabad for its recent actions in the Swat, South Waziristan and FATA. He strongly defended the massive US military and economic largesse already flowing to Pakistan, much more of which was promised to Islamabad during the strategic dialogue.

"We are seeing growing resolve and we should never forget that by far, the largest number of Al Qaeda captures in the world have occurred in Pakistan, with the direct assistance of the Pakistani authorities," he said.

The top diplomatic official said, "The US government has seen a number of very encouraging signs over the past year that Pakistan not only recognises the severity of the threat from violent extremists, but is actively working to counter and constraint it."

"Pakistani military operations in the FATA and Northwest Frontier Province have eliminated militant strongholds and crippled the operational abilities of extremist groups," he added.

Benjamin added, "In the wake of the military operation in Swat, we have seen public opinion turn more decisively against the militants and as a result, Al Qaeda and its allies have found it tougher to raise money, train recruits and plan attacks outside of the region."

Expressing the Barack Obama administration's gratitude to the Pakistan government, he said, "In recent weeks, we have seen tangible evidence of Pakistan's commitment to clamping down on extremist networks operating within its borders, and as you all know, several top Afghan Taliban leaders, including Mullah Abdul Ghani Barider, have been apprehended and we are very much grateful to the Pakistani authorities for their actions."

Benjamin said that Washington was ready to continue with this progress, "The United States has to do more than just help Pakistan defeat extremists militarily. We also have a responsibility to assist with the economic development in those historically neglected areas that have been really safe havens for extremists, and we need to strengthen Pakistan's ability to govern effectively."

He strongly defended the massive aid flows to Pakistan, saying that this was imperative to alleviate the "social, economic and political factors that push individuals into the arms of violent extremist groups."

When Benjamin was asked to explain this increased cooperation on the part of Pakistan, he replied that he didn't want to "get too speculative."

"An important part of what we are seeing is due to the growth of trust. At the end of the strategic dialogue, we really had a very good exchange and had taken this relationship to a higher level," he said.

"The history of US-Pakistan relations has been a deeply troubled one, and there have long been influential Pakistanis who thought that we did not have their interests at heart.

That we were purely in a transactional mode trying to accomplish our own goals," he said, adding, "And, I believe that after very, very serious engagement, the commitment of enormous resources, efforts to deal with all kinds of legitimate concerns they have, that we are making headway."

Benjamin said, "I am not predicting that progress will always be linear, but I am hopeful that we will have the strategic patience and wisdom to stay engaged and to see this through."

"And, a lot of people at higher levels than mine are investing an enormous amount of time in this relationship and it's paying off," he added.