For US, Pakistan both "firefighter and arsonist"

(CBS/AP)�

WASHINGTON - With Pakistan seeming to be playing the role of both "firefighter and arsonist" when it comes to helping the U.S. fight terrorism, Congress began openly debating its relationships with the troubled Asian nation.

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said the U.S.-Pakistan relationship is at a critical juncture and both countries need to get it right.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), spoke Tuesday after returning from a trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan, saying the United States has vital national security interests in the region.

The discovery of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan angered American lawmakers who have suggested cutting American aid to Islamabad.

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Following Kerry's visit to Pakistan, the two nations released a joint statement pledging cooperation on "high value" terrorist targets.

NATO copter fires on Pakistani army border post

The pledge, which was made in a joint statement, could help mollify Pakistani officials and citizens, who were enraged that one of the country's most important allies would conduct a unilateral operation on its soil. But details of the promised cooperation were unclear.

Before the hearing on Pakistan-U.S. relations, Sen. Dick Luger (R-Ind.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued a statement that detailed the reasons it's been so difficult to deal with Pakistan's leadership:

"One of the main problems in dealing with Pakistan is that its government is not a monolith, but rather a collection of different power centers that interact in complex ways. There is the elected civilian government, which over the years has not always been strong or stable; the uniformed military, which has seized power at various junctures; the intelligence service, which has its own independence within the military; and, we are told, a shadowy group of former intelligence agents that can act on its own. These different actors alternately compete and cooperate with one another, and their influence periodically waxes and wanes. Equally vexing, each of the players can support U.S. policies one moment, but obstruct them the next. Add to this mix volatile public elements that can be whipped into an anti-American fervor, and you have a partner who can seem, as some have said, to be both firefighter and arsonist."

The frayed relationship between the two nations was tested again Tuesday, as a NATO helicopter crossed into Pakistani territory and opened fire on a border post on Tuesday, wounding two soldiers and drawing return fire, local officials said.

U.S., Pakistan vow cooperation on terror targets

Pakistan protested the latest incursion, but a Western military official in Afghanistan gave a different version of events. He and a NATO spokesman said there was firing at the border but they did not confirm that Pakistani border troops were the target or had been hit.

The official said a NATO base in Afghanistan took intermittent direct and indirect fire from the Pakistani side of the border. Two helicopters flew into the area, and one fired across the border after twice taking fire from the Pakistani side, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

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Also Tuesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani began a visit to China, with his country's old ally looking more attractive amid the increased tension with the U.S.

Much is at stake for both sides. The United States needs Pakistan's cooperation if it hopes to find a solution to the Afghan war and help a reconciliation process that hopes to fashion a nonmilitary solution to the Taliban insurgency. It also needs Pakistan's military help against insurgents using its lawless tribal areas to stage attacks against American, coalition and Afghan forces.

It also needs to ensure that nuclear-armed Pakistan does not succumb to rising Islamic extremism and its own tenacious insurgency, which has cost the lives of thousands of soldiers and civilians.

Pakistan's failing economy desperately needs American and other foreign aid. Since 2002, Pakistan has received more than $20 billion from the U.S., making the country one of the largest U.S. aid recipients, according to the Congressional Research Service. Nearly $9 billion of that has been reimbursements for Pakistan's costs to support the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan.

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