By ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: May 4, 2009
WASHINGTON — Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday that he was comfortable that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons were secure, but that he was “gravely concerned” about the progress the Taliban had made inside both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In a news briefing at the Pentagon, Admiral Mullen offered a mixed assessment about security in the region in advance of three-way meetings this week between President Obama and President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan.
Admiral Mullen, who was in the region last week, said that he did not think for now that the United States had to worry that militants would get hold of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. “We all recognize, obviously, the worst downside with respect to Pakistan is that those nuclear weapons come under the control of terrorists,” Admiral Mullen said. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. I don’t see that in any way imminent whatsoever at this particular point in time.”
But at the same time, Admiral Mullen said that the main military focus of the United States must now shift from Iraq to Afghanistan and that the gains of the Taliban in the region threatened American interests in the region as well as the safety of Americans at home.
“I say that with the full knowledge that we still have about 136,000 American troops in Iraq, and that the fighting there isn’t over,” Admiral Mullen said. “We remain committed to the mission we’ve been given in Iraq, make no mistake, and we will stay there long enough, in keeping with their agreement, to ensure the Iraqis can provide for their own security.”
Nonetheless, he said, “Afghanistan has been an economy-of-force operation for far too long.” Admiral Mullen said it was no longer about “can-do anymore, this is about must-do, and we must do more over at least the next two years, starting now.”
Admiral Mullen declined to offer a public assessment of the leadership of Mr. Zardari, who Pentagon officials consider increasingly weak, but he did say that Mr. Zardari needed to face a number of economic and political challenges at home.
Comments