$100 million – that's how much the U.S. spends each month to
reroute Afghanistan war supplies around closed ground routes in
Pakistan, in part because U.S. leaders continue to refuse Pakistan's
demand for a formal apology for the November deaths of 24 Pakistani
soldiers killed during a mistaken-identity border skirmish with NATO
air forces.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta put a number on the costs
of alternate shipping routes for the first time in Wednesday
testimony to Congress. While Panetta said that both sides have a made
progress towards a deal to reopen the supply routes, called the
Ground Lines of Communication - or GLOCs - in military speak, he stressed that
the apology isn't the only sticking point.
“The U.S. had made clear that mistakes were made, and they were
made on our side, they were also made on the Pakistani side. We've
expressed our condolences for the mistakes that were made,"
Panetta said. “That alone isn't the only issue that's being
discussed and that needs to be resolved in order to get the GLOCS
open."
In a Tuesday press briefing, Pentagon spokesman George Little
similarly avoided the word “apology,” saying that U.S. leaders had
“taken responsibility” for the deaths, and “expressed our deep
regret and condolences.”
When pressed on why the U.S. wouldn't
apologize and asked to confirm it was a sticking point in
negotiations, Little implied that a formal apology was still under
negotiation.
“Well, again, this gets to the contours of the negotiation, and
I wouldn't get into the specifics of what we're discussing or not
discussing with the Pakistanis,” Little said, “Whether or not an
apology is part of that mix is not something I'm going to discuss in
a public forum.”
The Department of Defense investigation into the border skirmish
chalked it up to poor communication, fueled by a lack of trust
between U.S. and Pakistani forces. U.S. forces near the
Pakistan-Afghanistan border came under fire, and acted in self
defense and with appropriate force, before being informed that their
adversaries were Pakistani, not insurgent, forces. After the
skirmish, Pakistan kicked the CIA out of an air base that had been
used for drone strikes and shut the U.S, out of trucking routes to
Afghanistan.
Until now, military leaders had been reluctant to put a price on
the costs of rerouting supplies, probably concerned that Pakistan
would use that price against them in negotiations to reopen the
GLOCS.
Is there any hope of rescuing the dysfunctional relationship between America and Pakistan? Let's review a list of greatest hits from the past year or so: 1) Bin Laden was found hiding deep in Pakistan 2) the Pakistani doctor who helped U.S. forces locate Bin Laden was sentenced to 33 years in prison for treason 3) Taliban fighters continue to hide in Pakistan, and U.S. drone strikes continue to kill them (and nearby civilians) in Pakistan 4) 24 Pakistanis are killed after firing on NATO forces near the Afghanistan border.
