Observing that Pakistani security officials support and guide terrorists in their activities,a South Asian expert on Wednesday said the country needs to "fully break" its links with extremist groups if it wants to avoid a collision with the US in the coming months. "Without a shift away from Pakistan's dual policies of fighting some terrorists and supporting others,US-Pakistani ties will be destined for a collision course," Lisa Curtis,Senior Research Fellow for South Asia at The Heritage Foundation's Asia Studies Center,wrote in an article. Referring to a recent news article in 'The New York Times' on ISI's support to the Taliban,Curtis said there is growing recognition in the US that Pakistan's contacts with these groups involve much more than merely "keeping tabs" on them. "There is mounting evidence that Pakistani security officials support,and even guide,the terrorists in their activities," she said. "This disturbing fact was brought home last spring when US intelligence agencies apparently intercepted messages in which Pakistani army chief General Kayani referred to Afghan militant commander Jalaluddin Haqqani as a 'strategic asset'," Curtis said. Released in Washington by The Heritage Foundation,the article first appeared in The News International,Pakistan. "Credible media reports,quoting US officials,further reveal a Pakistani intelligence link to the Haqqani network's planning and execution of a suicide bomb attack against India's embassy in Kabul last July that left over 50 Afghan civilians and two senior Indian officials dead," Curtis said. So while Pakistani military leaders may consider Haqqani a 'strategic asset',the international coalition considers him a ruthless terrorist enemy of the Afghan people and the international coalition forces fighting to protect them,Curtis wrote. While the Obama administration is clinging to the hope that Pakistan's military will awaken to the dangers these same terrorist elements pose to Pakistani society and the stability of the state,Curtis said: "Continued links between extremists and elements of the Pakistani security establishment have led to confusion about the genuine threat to the nation." In turn,this ambivalence towards extremist groups within the security establishment fuels conspiracy theories against outsiders (mainly either India or the US) that get aired in the Pakistani media and lead to a public discourse that diminishes the threat from terrorists. "To end this vicious cycle,the Pakistan army must fully break its links to terrorist groups and recognise that its own interests as a unified and stable institution will ultimately be jeopardised unless it reins in individuals who are pressing an extremist agenda," Curtis said.
