WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Pakistani issues seem to have brought into sharper focus the differences among the U.S. military, its intelligence network and diplomatic corps, officials said.
The issues with Pakistan, including the Nov. 26 NATO border airstrike in which 24 Pakistan soldiers died, point to how the U.S. State Department feels diplomacy has been pushed behind military and intelligence priorities, The Washington Post reported.
U.S. diplomats told the Post because of this there is little good will to cushion blows when incidents such as the airstrike occur.
The airstrike led Pakistan to decide against taking part in this week's major international diplomatic meeting in Bonn, Germany, to discuss Afghanistan future, its peace plan with the Taliban and the winding down of the 10-year war there. The newspaper said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tried but could not convince Pakistan to change its mind.
Many U.S. diplomats see the latest crisis with Pakistan as a disconnect between what one State Department official called short-term security objectives and long-term diplomatic goals, the Post said.
The newspaper said the war against al-Qaida and other terrorist groups has led to expansion of the U.S. military and intelligence personnel in other countries.
"In a lot of ways, diplomacy is this historical anachronism," the official told the Post.
The newspaper said while U.S. diplomats say they share the impatience of the U.S. military and the intelligence agency, it is also the U.S. goal to convince the Pakistanis the United States wants to help and not harm Pakistan.
Another State Department official told the Post "this whole sovereignty thing is so strong because we do precisely what we want in [Pakistan] territory and this drives them crazy."
The Post said the U.S. Defense Department and the Central Intelligence Agency have their own complaints with the U.S. Embassy, which they sometimes see as coddling a dysfunctional Pakistani government and interfering with core U.S. counterterrorism objectives.
