Senior lawmakers suggested Sunday that the US take a harder line with Pakistan, after Islamabad retaliated for Nato's deadly misfire by closing parts of its border with Afghanistan and demanding the US vacate a drone base. The comments by Sens. Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican, and Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, show how strained Pakistan's relationship with the US, and Congress specifically, has become in recent months.
Lawmakers approve billions of dollars in military and civilian aid for Pakistan with the expectation that its government will help target al Qaida operatives and push Afghan militants toward peace talks. "There's a lot of diplomacy that has to occur and it has to be tough diplomacy in the sense that they need to understand that our support for them financially is dependent upon their cooperation with us," said Kyl, the Senate's No 2 Republican.
Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, said Pakistan's latest move is further evidence that the US must end its military involvement in the region and bring troops home.
"As difficult as it is to fight our way thru this diplomatic morass between the incompetence and maybe corruption of Afghanistan and the complicity in parts of Pakistan, our soldiers are caught right in the middle of this at a time they are trying to bring peace to the region," Durbin said. "It's very important to maintain the relationship for the long haul," he said, without offering more specifics on how that might be done. Durbin suggested the US back out from the region from a military standpoint. "We've got to leave it to Afghan forces," he said. Kyl and Durbin spoke on "Fox News Sunday."
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