US harps on Haqqani network theme

Leon Panetta said the network posed a serious threat to US forces in Afghanistan.Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters that Washington would put as much pressure as possible on the Pakistanis to exercise control from their side of the border.Weve continued to state that this cannot happen, we cannot have the Haqqanis coming across the border, attacking our forces, attacking Afghanistan ...and then disappearing back into a safe haven. That is not tolerable, Panetta said.He added: I think theyve heard the message, but well see.Panettas comments reflect a tougher public US line in recent days amid growing frustration in President Barack Obamas administration over the role of the Haqqani network.The stern warnings also coincide with increasingly strained relations with Pakistan, which was angered and embarrassed by a US raid in May that killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad.The Americans blame the Haqqani network for a recent bombing attack that wounded 77 US troops at a base in Wardak province and for an elaborate assault on September 13 on the US embassy and NATO headquarters in Kabul.Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at an earlier event Tuesday the presence of the Haqqani sanctuaries potentially jeopardized the outcome of the war.Without that (Pakistani action), we cant succeed in the overall effort, he said.Mullen said Pakistans ISI intelligence agency had to sever all ties with the Haqqani militants, who operate out of sanctuaries in the countrys northwest.I think that the ISI has to make the decision to strategically disengage. The ISI has been doing this, supporting proxies for an extended period of time, he told an audience at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.Mullen met with his Pakistani counterpart over the weekend in Spain, General Ashfaq Kayani, and repeated Washingtons impatience on the Haqqani militants.At the Pentagon press conference, Mullen -- who has held numerous talks with Kayani during his four year tenure -- said there was no doubt about the clarity with which I addressed this issue in the meeting with the Pakistani general.