Gen. Petraeus gets an earful from Pakistanis

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistani leaders, frustrated by U.S. missile strikes on Pakistani territory, publicly reproached Gen. David Petraeus on Monday on his first visit to the country as the newly appointed head of the U.S. Central Command.

Pakistan's president, Asif Ali Zardari, told Petraeus: "Continuing drone attacks on our territory, which result in loss of precious lives and property, are counterproductive and difficult to explain by a democratically elected government. It is creating a credibility gap," according to a statement issued by president's office.

Zardari's government has claimed the battle against armed Islamic extremists is "Pakistan's war" but it's been powerless to stop the U.S. attacks, which provide ammunition for those who consider it "America's war."

Petraeus also met Pakistani army chief Ashfaq Kayani and Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar, who are reported to have delivered similar reproaches.

Petraeus, who's credited with pulling Iraq away from the brink of collapse, pointedly made Pakistan his first visit to the region, after last week assuming charge of U.S. military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, including Iraq and Afghanistan. One of his top priorities is to develop a new strategy to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan.

His visit comes on the heels of sharp diplomatic clashes between American and Pakistani officials over the missile strikes. At least 100 people have been killed in 17 U.S.-led strikes in the tribal areas of North and South Waziristan, including eight in a cross-border ground raid Sept. 3.

With casualties at record highs among foreign troops in Afghanistan, and security in sharp decline in Kabul and across the country, Petraeus's efforts to resuscitate the military mission there will be as closely watched in Islamabad as they are in Washington.

More than 1,200 Pakistani troops have been killed in skirmishes with extremists since the war in Afghanistan began in 2001. Although the Pakistani military has recently stepped up efforts to bring its tribal areas to heel, U.S. officials have said they are only "cautiously optimistic" that Pakistan can curb the growing Taliban threat in eastern Afghanistan along Pakistan's porous mountain border.

Petraeus, who oversaw a surge of U.S. troops in Iraq and a sharp downturn in violence there, wants to add more U.S. troops to the 33,000 in Afghanistan. He also has indicated support for efforts to bring moderate Islamist insurgents back into the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai. Under Petraeus' command in Baghdad, a similar effort to arm and organize disaffected Iraqi tribal leaders in western Anbar province won U.S. troops a much needed reprieve in battling insurgents.

In an echo of that strategy, Pakistani officials have begun to support the efforts to arm tribal militias in the largely lawless northwest and encourage them to fight pro-Taliban insurgents.

"Petraeus does understand that, while the basic template from Iraq is applicable in Afghanistan and Pakistan, there are many, many differences," said Kamran Bokhari, the director of Middle East analysis at Stratfor, a private U.S. geopolitical intelligence firm. "The key difference is that Iraq was a sectarian conflict."

In an effort to show Petraeus the hard terrain the Pakistani forces face against the insurgents in the tribal areas, the military planned to fly him over some of the terrain today, the military official said.

That way, the general would get an idea of the long, porous Afghanistan and Pakistan border. "We will let him see where the roads end and where the mountains start," the official said.

"It will be a glimpse of the Tora Bora from the other side," he said, referring to the area in Afghanistan near the Pakistani border from where Osama bin Laden is believed to have escaped from U.S. troops in late 2001.

During a visit today to Peshawar, the capital of the North-West Frontier Province, Petraeus planned to meet with Maj. Gen. Tariq Khan, the new leader of the Frontier Corps, the paramilitary force that is fighting in the tribal region of Bajur.

Compiled from McClatchy Newspapers, The Washington Post and The New York Times