The United States must be Islamabad's "steadfast partner" against the Taliban in Pakistan, said Army Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. Central Command.
"Our task - and [Defense] Secretary [Robert] Gates has reaffirmed that during his ongoing visit - has to be to show that we are going to be a steadfast partner, that we are not going to do to that country what we've done twice before, which is provide a substantial amount of assistance, in some cases create issues and challenges that they have to deal with in the future, like mujahideen, and then leave precipitously and leave them with those problems," Petraeus told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
Petraeus said Pakistan has had successes recently in combating the Taliban, such as clearing and holding the Swat Valley.
He said the U.S. commitment was demonstrated by the Kerry-Lugar bill that passed last fall, which sends $1.5 billion annually to Pakistan for five years.
Petraeus said the United States would not be directly militarily involved with the fight inside Pakistan.
"They see this as their fight, and that is important," he said.
Petraeus had strong words for the Wixom, Mich.-based manufacturer Trijicon that was discovered to have been selling the Pentagon gun sights inscribed with references to Bible verses.
"It is a perception problem, without question," he said. "It's disturbing to us, frankly, that this was done."
Although the inscriptions went unnoticed by the Pentagon, they are now a big concern to the Army and Marine Corps that contracted for the gun sights, he said.
"This is a serious concern to me and to commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan because indeed it conveys a perception that is absolutely contrary to what it is that we have sought to do. There's a reason we put people through cultural awareness training," he said. "And I can assure you that there is much greater sensitivity among our [troops] about this kind of thing than apparently there is with whatever contractor produced those sights."
On Afghanistan and Iraq, Petraeus said progress is being made in some areas, but challenges remain.
In Iraq, violence, high-profile attacks and civilian deaths are down at least 90 percent since the surge in 2007, but political progress in Iraq has been more difficult, with disputes between Iraqi leaders and a panel that banned more than 500 candidates from the March parliamentary elections because of ties to Saddam Hussein's former Baath party.
"This is of enormous concern to the Iraqi political leaders," who are "behind the scenes working out how to deal with this and come to grips with an issue that could really undermine a key element in the progress of the last three years."
In Afghanistan, recruitment of security forces among local Afghans was so high in December, when salary increases were publicized, that not all applicants could be accommodated, Petraeus said. But retention and training of those forces needs to be improved, and the pool of potential military leaders is worryingly small. More trainers are needed for these forces, especially Afghan trainers, so that the United States and NATO allies can begin to hand over training leadership to Afghans, he said.
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