Press Releases 2007
Remarks by U.S. Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard A. Boucher at the Press Conference in Islamabad
08/16/2007REMARKS TO THE PRESS
BY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIAN AFFAIRS RICHARD A. BOUCHER
August 16, 2007
Islamabad, Pakistan
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It’s a pleasure to see all of you again. This, I think, is my tenth trip to Pakistan since I started in this job 18 months ago, and it’s a good occasion to visit. It’s been so far a very interesting visit. I was able to congratulate the President, the Foreign Minister, and the Foreign Secretary, and other people I’ve met with on the 60th anniversary of Pakistan’s Independence. It truly is an historic anniversary, and the nation has come a long way and achieved a lot in those 60 years, and I think we all need to remember that.
It was also an interesting moment to come because the jirgas had just concluded among people from both sides of the border in Pakistan and Afghanistan. President Karzai, as you know, participated in that, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, and, of course, President Musharraf went there just the other day. We think this was quite a success. It was a very interesting process, and we’re glad to see that it continues, glad to see that there are plans for continuing that. I was able to talk to a number of the people here about that jirga process and how it goes.
I’m also taking a little bit of time to look at the situation of the victims of the floods in Pakistan, the people that have been hurt by the tremendous rains and flooding in this country. I’m meeting with some of my own people to make sure that we are helping wherever we can. The United States has so far provided about $2 million worth of assistance to the victims of the floods, and we’ll continue to do that support. We actually have some disaster experts who were here in country today taking a look as the situation and who will have a chance to talk to me and brief me later.
I also came to talk with the Foreign Ministry -- with the Foreign Minister and the Foreign Secretary -- about [the] Strategic Dialogue between the United States and Pakistan. As you know, Deputy Secretary Negroponte, when he was here a couple of months ago, announced that he would be coming back for the Strategic Dialogue. We’re going to do that in early September. Deputy Secretary Negroponte will come back, and we’ll have our teams and the Pakistani teams sit down and talk about the very important issues in our relationship: the work that we do together to improve education in Pakistan, the work that we do together to provide economic opportunity to the people to Pakistan, the work that we do together to develop science and technology, the work that we do together to make sure that Pakistan’s energy needs are met. Those are the four big areas, in what I think is, you all know, the United States’ relationship with Pakistan. Our assistance to Pakistan, our interaction with Pakistani experts, goes way beyond that. We’re involved in education and health care, a whole lot of other areas, including the earthquake assistance and the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the earthquake areas, which was an ongoing project that continues even this year.
I met with some people from the political parties and a number of election experts to talk about the upcoming elections. We looked to understand the outlook for the elections and different opinions and ideas that are around about how to ensure that those elections are free and fair. We certainly want to see the voters of Pakistan are given a credible choice and make sure that their choices, their votes, are counted in proper fashion. We want to see all the voters of Pakistan get a chance to make their choices and have those choices respected. So we know the President, the government, the election commissioner, others are pledged to a free and fair election. And we have a variety of groups and experts in programs here to try to help Pakistan achieve that goal. That’s a goal that we share and that we look forward to continuing to pursue right through the election period. I have also taken some time to look at the situation in the border areas, particularly the recent fighting in Tribal Areas of Pakistan and the threat to Pakistan as posed by violent extremists, whether it’s from the direct attacks and horrible suicide bombings against government personnel and innocent civilians or the attempts to impose Taliban-type practices and rule on people in the Tribal Areas as well as other parts of Pakistan. So we’ll talk quite a bit about what’s going on up there and the efforts of the government to deal with violent extremism, efforts they have made so far and the achievements they have made so far as well as the continuing work that they are doing.
We’ve also talked about the development of those areas, giving the people in the Tribal Areas a kind of infrastructure they need: the roads, the electricity, the education systems, as well as economic opportunity that they need, and the education, health care for their children so that they can develop into prosperous participants in Pakistani society and in international trade. We have pledged, as you know, $750 million over five years. This year’s money is available or soon will be available, so we’ve talked some with the Embassy and with others about the kinds of programs that we can fund to carry out the development plans in the region.
In addition, we looked at the overall situation here. We have, I think, a continuing engagement between the United States and Pakistan that’s very broad. It’s very strategic for both our countries, and it’s very fundamental for both our countries. It has to do with fundamental issues of safety and livelihood, opportunity and hope. Pakistan’s success as a modern, prosperous nation -- that’s important to us, and we put our money behind it, our experience behind it, and our effort behind that to help Pakistanis achieve that kind of success.
We have a very active dialogue between the United States and Pakistan because we are partners. In addition to my visits and the Deputy Secretary’s visits, you are familiar with the phone calls from the Secretary of State and from the President. We have a relationship with Pakistan where when something’s happening we pick up the phone or we come out and we talk, and we try to understand what’s going on from the people directly involved in those things. I think it’s a very healthy and positive relationship. It’s one that benefits the people of both our countries, and it’s one that we will continue to pursue actively in the months to come and the years to come because it is so fundamental and strategic to both our nations.
So, it’s a pleasure for me to be back and see all of you, and it will be a pleasure for me to answer some of your questions.
QUESTION: I am Javed Siddiq. I represent daily Nawa-i-Waqt. We have been getting assurances from U.S. Administration officials that there will be no direct attack or military action in the tribal areas. But the White House Spokesman has been quoted as saying that there would be some action if there is any actionable intelligence. This action would be such that the friendship and the relationship between Pakistan and the United States would not be affected. What does this mean?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: This means what it means. It means what the White House Spokesman said; it means what the President said; it means what the Secretary of State has said; it means what the Secretary of Defense has said. We are partners with Pakistan in the war on terror. We act together. We consult closely with each other. We work together. If either one of us had actionable intelligence on threats, people who represent threats both to our nation and to Pakistan, we would work together, we would both work to ensure that those threats were dealt with, and beyond that I’m not going to speculate.
QUESTION: This is Hanif Khalid representing daily Jang. My question is that: Excellency, you have painted a very splendid picture of Pakistan-U.S. relations. Are you aware of the sentiments of the Pakistani people about America’s policies towards Pakistan?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: I do paint a very positive picture of U.S.-Pakistan relations because we’re very active partners, and we’re partners in a way that I think benefits the people of Pakistan and benefits the people of the Untied States. We play a large part here in providing health care for people, in providing economic opportunity, trade opportunities. We’re helping Pakistan develop new sources of energy. We’re helping Pakistan deal with natural disasters like the earthquakes and the floods. I’m well aware that in Pakistan there’s an active political dialogue. There’s a lot of discussion. There is a lot of media reporting of various different views, and we try to keep abreast. We know there are a lot of views in Pakistan and in Pakistani society, but I believe and I think the Pakistani government believes and, frankly, most of the Pakistani politicians that I talk to believe that the U.S.-Pakistan relationship is a positive one because of its benefit to the people of the country and not just something maintained by governments.
QUESTION: This is Farhan Bokhari from the Financial Times. This is a two-part question. One, how much of a role did Secretary Rice have in averting a state of emergency last Thursday, early morning Thursday, when she called up President Musharraf because that matter, according to a number of people here, was discussed during their conversation? My second question relates back to what Javed Siddiq asked earlier on. Just a follow-up quick question. If the U.S. had actionable intelligence on al Qaeda or other targets on Pakistani territory, would the U.S. then be willing to doing it alone or always in tandem with Pakistani authorities?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: I promise you that if you ask me that question four times, I’ll answer it exactly the same way four times. The United States and Pakistan are partners in a War on Terror. We work together. If either of us has actionable intelligence, we will work together to make sure that those targets, those problems, those threats are dealt with. As far as the discussions between Secretary Rice and President Musharraf, as I said, we have a relationship where our leaders talk frequently, where when something is going on they can pick up the phone and talk to each other, call each other, hear directly from those involved in these decisions what’s going on. Beyond that, I really can’t characterize things. President Musharraf made his decisions, we heard about them the next day. So what various factors he weighed when he made those decisions, I can’t, I don’t want to speculate.
QUESTION: This is Shaukat Piracha from AAJ television. My question is about the broad-based relationship between the two countries. I just want to point out two things in that. Some time back it was reported in the U.S. media that the [National Intelligence Estimates], particularly about Pakistan, were maneuvered. They were not based on correct information or intelligence situation. We have seen this situation in the case of Iraq. So your comments on the formation of the NIE report on the basis of manipulated report? And the second component of this issue is that we have been listening many times from the U.S. Administration that these are long-term relations, but the recent legislation has shown something else. The Pressler Amendment ….
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: The Pressler Amendment was not recent legislation…
QUESTION: I’m just reminding that you’ve been saying that that was counter-productive. New legislation, how is it going to affect the relations?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: Yes. Oh, the first was the National Intelligence Estimate? I am not in the intelligence community; I wasn’t involved in the production of the intelligence estimate. Frankly, I was involved in what we said about the Iraq situation, and I know that that was a special case and a different situation. I think you all…you know…just read your own newspapers. What have you been reporting? You’ve been reporting over the last year that the United States is very concerned about the presence of Al Qaeda in the Tribal Areas. In, I think it was January, when the Director of National Intelligence testified and used the word “radiating,” I think it was, people went a little crazy. And now that we used similar language in our National Intelligence Estimate, it didn’t come as any surprise. This has been something that we have all talked about consistently, the fact that there is a presence, there are people from Al Qaeda who’ve been able to take advantage of the situation in the Tribal Areas. It’s not a surprise to any of you, nor is it a surprise to us. The question is what we can do to deal with that situation. And we have been working with Pakistan to support their efforts, whether it’s development strategy or the other strategies that they have because these people are a threat to Pakistan, too. And you’ve seen that there have been attacks from Taliban types and Al Qaeda types and others against the Pakistani security forces and against innocent Pakistanis.
So I think, first and foremost, we have to establish that we know there is a threat there, but second of all we know that Pakistan is trying to deal with that threat because not only is it a threat to others in the world, but it’s a threat to Pakistan and Pakistan needs to take care of that. And to the extent that we can and it’s appropriate, we’ll support them in doing that. And that, again, that shouldn’t be news to anybody, but that’s the situation reflected, not just in this particular report but in all our reports and all the things we say consistently as we go along.
What was the other half? I’m sorry, I’m not very good at two-part questions.
QUESTION: The recent legislation.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: Oh, the recent legislation. Look, our Congress…First of all, it’s important to read the legislation not just the one line or two, but actually look at the three or four pages of it. And you’ll see that the legislation, the first premise of the legislation, is that the United States is a partner with Pakistan, the United States wants to work with Pakistan, the United States wants to fund programs in Pakistan that help Pakistan to develop as a nation, to develop a modern economy, a free society, and a safe place for everybody to live with out the fear of extremism, terrorism. And that’s one of the first things that are said in the legislation. Second of all, the legislation asks us, puts a requirement on us, to write some reports to the Congress about what’s going on here in terms of the fight against terrorism.
I have frequently heard here that there aren’t enough opportunities, there’s not enough appreciation, in the United States for all the efforts that Pakistan is making against terrorism. So, I look upon this legislation as an opportunity. I’m going to have no problem writing that report. We’re going to have no problem putting together a good report for our Congress on what Pakistan is doing to fight terrorism. I’m sure that we’ll point out the steps that are being taken, the sacrifices that have been made, the further efforts that are planned. Our job, however we can go about it, is helping support that. As well as the threat that remains out there because it’s a threat to all of us and so, I’ll find, I’ll be happy to tell the Congress periodically. It’s an opportunity for us to tell the Congress what Pakistan is doing against terrorism.
QUESTION: This is Waseem Abbasi representing GEO TV. I have a political question. Mr. Boucher, there have been reports that that United States has been playing a mediatory role between President Musharraf and ex-Prime Minister Bhutto. To what extent are these reports correct? And what is your reaction to the recent meetings of these leaders in Abu Dhabi?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: I don’t want to give a political answer to a political question. Our interest in this election is that it be free and fair. The voters of Pakistan get a choice. They have the opportunity to decide on their next government. We have supported that interest without favor or without leaning towards any particular party, and that’s what we will continue to do. I have met with representatives of all parties, all the major parties in Pakistan. I have always encouraged them, listened to them, to talk about what could be done to ensure that elections are free and fair and that voters have a choice. I have also encouraged them to look at what can be done in Pakistan to, sort of, you might say, strengthen the moderate center of Pakistani politics. I think the body politic here, by and large, wants to modernize the nation, wants to develop the nation, wants to have a safe society, and the more that those tendencies can be brought forward and joined, the more solid base there is to deal with the serious problem of extremism. But beyond that, whatever choices individual politicians, individual political parties make, they’re their choices to make based on their own calculations and how they want to proceed in terms of the elections of governance.
QUESTION: My name is Ihtisham from daily Dawn. Mr. Boucher, you met the political people yesterday, especially from the opposition. And there are reports in the newspapers today that they have asked you…that they don’t believe that there is going to be a fair and free election under Musharraf. What is your reaction? And secondly, briefly about reconstruction zones. What has happened to that?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: Reconstruction aid? I don’t have the numbers in my head, but…
QUESTION: [Reconstruction Opportunity Zones]?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: Reconstruction Opportunity Zones? Okay. In terms of the predictions of the political parties, frankly at this stage I’m less interested in predictions than I am in hearing people talk about what they are most concerned with, what needs to be done to ensure a free and fair election. I think that’s where all our focus should be. The focus of people who, like us, are providing experts, and I met with some of our experts today. That should be the concern of the political parties themselves who are involved in the whole process, [who] need to be involved in the whole process of ensuring that the voter lists are complete and correct, ensuring the procedures are right, of ensuring that the polling monitors are going to be there, that they’re going to have people watching the process. It should be the concern of the media that has an important role to play in ensuring that the election is going to be open and credible. And so particularly at this stage before the formal campaign has even started, I think it’s important for all of us to ask: what are the important things that can help lead to a free and fair election? Some of those we’ve talked about before -- having a complete voter list, making that list available to the parties so that they can check it -- some of those things are matters for the election commission to decide, some are affected by court decisions.
Everybody has a role in trying to help make sure that every voter gets a chance to vote. We’ve always encouraged the parties, the election commission to meet with the parties as a group and the parties to come together and agree on the ground rules for a free and fair election. That’s something that I’ve continued to encourage. We’ve looked at things where we are putting are money into things like transparent ballot boxes, and training of neutral monitors for polling stations. I want to make sure that we are doing what we can, but that everybody is encouraged to do what they can to provide an atmosphere, to provide a set of procedures, to provide a set of monitors and scrutiny to ensure that the people of Pakistan get a free choice, that their choices can be made, and their choices can be respected.
In terms of the Reconstruction Opportunity Zones, the legislation has been developed. We now have to look at sort of the parliamentary procedure in the U.S. Congress to see if we can’t get it proposed and moved through. I think we’ll be able to do that in the fall. It’s pretty much the schedule we knew all along -- we announced it. We knew there would be a long time when we had to do the economic studies and we’d have to get people together to draft the legislation. We’ve consulted with the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan during this process and now we’re just about ready to see it appear in Congress and to try and get it through our Congress for approval.
We do very firmly support the zones. The zones are a way of providing for industry to set up in border areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. It’s a way of providing jobs for people in those areas, providing new exports for the nation. I still think it’s a vital element of the economic growth of those areas and, therefore, of the effort to give these people a different future than the future marked by extremism.
QUESTION: My name is Tariq Mehmood and I represent ARY TV. My question is about the Pak-Afghan peace jirga and its declaration. Both the countries are agreed to take action against terrorism. But the Pakistani government is of the view that without fencing the border and proper arrangement of the border, it is difficult to curb infiltration, and they are also of the view that Afghan refugee camps are safehavens for terrorism. How do you view that?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: I think our view is that border management, refugees, all these issues are important issues. They need to be done in cooperation, of both sides. There’s been a great deal of cooperation on the refugee question. There have been some camps closed, people moved back to Afghanistan. The international community has come together to try to make sure these people get the kind of support they need so that they can go back and set up their houses. That’s cooperation that I think has led to a basically positive result. I hope that cooperation continues and is expanded. In terms of border management, looking at both sides of the border, we’ve done some of that in the tripartite meetings that the United States has held with both parties. We saw very unfortunate flare-ups in violence earlier this year. That’s been calmed down again.
QUESTION: I am Mariana Baber from The News. This is regarding how the U.S. sees terrorism in these two ways. Number one is the report suggesting that the U.S .is quite happy and nudging Benazir and Musharraf to work together in the future. You have the world’s army in Afghanistan, yet the borders cannot be controlled. We have our troops near the Pak-Afghan border, and you know they cannot control it. Benazir does not have a very good record as Prime Minister the last two times. So how hopeful are you that if these two get together they would be able to control this extremism? And also the Taliban, I mean the Taliban are inside Afghanistan negotiating with the South Koreans. They, hopefully, will be part of the jirga in the future because they did not want to sit in the main jirga. But in the future there is talk that yes, they will be part……
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: Slow down a little bit . . . okay . . . I’ve got terrorism, borders, Benazir, Musharraf, borders, jirgas, Taliban, right? That’s the question? I think that the issue…in a way it’s good that you mentioned all those things… because the issue of fighting extremism, it’s not just something that soldiers do, it’s not just something that policemen do, or border security guards do. It’s something that a society does. I think we’ve seen in Pakistan an approach that tries to deal with a threat of extremism in a broad-based program. It’s improving education and health care. It’s reconstruction zones and systems for the development of the Tribal Areas. It’s economic opportunity for people in those areas. It is border crossings and how they’re managed. It’s not a political issue though; it’s not an issue of this politician and that politician. It’s a national issue. It’s how does Pakistan want to develop as a society and how can the people of Pakistan be safe to develop a modern society without this threat of extremism hanging over their heads? It hangs over their heads as much as it hangs over the heads of everyone in the world.
The problem in Pakistan and Afghanistan in some ways is the same: it’s bringing good government to all the areas of the nation. For a variety of historical reasons on the Pakistan side, these border areas have not been well-governed, not been governed according to the same arrangements as the rest of the country is governed in. There’s a lot of history in these areas of what’s happened, but over time they’ve developed into places where extremists have been able to hang out and take advantage of the situation. So we need to ensure good governance; we need to ensure economic opportunity. Certainly we need to ensure that the fight against violent, extremist people with guns and bombs is carried forward. On both sides of the border we need to extend government to areas that are ungoverned spaces and make those places inhospitable for extremists and violent elements and make those places parts of the country where people have economic opportunity and education and health, good government and hope. And that’s why you see, on both sides of the border, very comprehensive programs to do that. It’s a painstaking task; it’s not done in a day. It’s done through plans and funding and government representatives, district officers and aid projects, schools. But all that work has to be done to make these places part of a modern society in Pakistan and part of a modern developing democracy in Afghanistan, as well.
QUESTION: This is Fakh-ur-Rehman from NBC. During the political challenges that President Musharraf is facing, does the United States believe that [an] election at all will take place in Pakistan?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: I think we see everybody, including the President, very committed to elections. We certainly see, as he already says… we have heard that not only his commitment is there to a free and fair election but this is part of the broader program. You know, he has talked, worked for many years on a program to develop society, to open up the media, to open up civil society, open up economic opportunity to people through economic reforms, to expand the education system. And these are all things that he has committed to making a more modern society, developing Pakistan in that direction, and we share that goal and we put a lot of money and effort into supporting those goals, because we think that is where Pakistan as a nation is headed and we think this is good for us all.
So, I think, yes, there is a definite commitment there for the election. But it is also part of the bigger program. And that’s why I think it fits. It fits with what he has accomplished so far. It fits with making stable transition from military rule to elected government, newly elected government this fall, and I think that is a process we look forward to.
QUESTION: This is Javed Raana from Al Jazeera television. While violence has expanded in the economic opportunity zone in the Tribal Areas, it seems the peace deal was scrapped by the Taliban in a situation when the U.S. did not really want it to happen. There was lot of pressure on Pakistan to scrap this. What future do you find of the economic opportunity zone in this situation? Do you think some sort of more durable political strategy needs to be put in place?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: First of all, we all understand the political climate with the agreement -- to reach an agreement with the people of the area to end violence, to expel the foreigners. It didn’t happen, just didn’t work. It did nothing to curb the violence or extremism or the planning, with the al Qaeda presence with the Taliban presence that was going on there. So the government, I think, has been working in a variety of different ways, continues to work in a variety of different ways to try to see that those goals are met. We have had a jirga now, representatives of people from both sides of the border coming together and saying they won’t want extremism in their midst. They don’t want Taliban in their midst. They don’t want foreign fighters in their midst. Their choice needs to be respected and the government is working hard, I think, to make sure those efforts are carried out, whether it is through direct attacks on the most violent elements or through providing economic opportunity.
As far as the political arrangement in that area, there are political arrangements that go back a long way. The government has to look at that and decide if there are updates, changes, modifications that need to be made. But I think part of what we are doing in the development zones in the Tribal Area Development Strategy is to help build institutions in that area so that at least they have economic institutions which can be capable of providing the assistance and support the people need.
QUESTION: Carlotta Gall from The New York Times. You say the President is committed to transition from military rule to democracy. Does this mean he has given you a commitment to take off his uniform prior to election? Presumably, they wouldn’t be free and fair if still there is a military ruler here.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: That means he has given a commitment to all of you. He has made a public commitment that he would address or deal with the issue of the uniform in accordance with the Constitution, during the course of this transition. I don’t have any more information than that. But that is the commitment he has made.
QUESTION: Do you believe him?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: Yes. We’ll see.
QUESTION: I am Sajjad Malik from Daily Times. Some of the statements of the ruling party members show that the imposition of emergency still remains an option for Musharraf. Is it a matter of concern for you? Second, some of the leading parties have said that free and fair elections would not be possible under Musharraf and probably they would boycott. What would be your response if such happens?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY BOUCHER: My response is to listen to what the leading party says; to try to understand the things that they say, that they point out; to look at any weaknesses in the system and see how we can all work -- us, political parties, election commission, media, everybody work -- to improve those weaknesses, to make sure that there are no flaws in the elections, to make sure that we have as credible and open an election as possible. So that’s kind of where we end up. And as I just said, I listened to the parties a lot. The call is to hear from them what we can all do to ensure a good election.
On emergency, you can look at this in all kinds of different ways. Whether it exists in law, governments always have options. You know our interest in the whole subject is part of the whole thing: we want to see a smooth and stable transition in Pakistan. We want to see a transition in Pakistan that leads to a government that the people have voted for, that leads to a stable political situation, that has a good solid political base on which to deal with problems of extremism.
We want to see Pakistan continue to be a good partner with us and all the things that we do here in developing this society, building the education system, providing energy to the people, and fighting terrorism. And so, we are obviously very interested in this process. It is one of the reasons why I come here so often. But we also know in the end it is up to Pakistanis. It is up to the people and government and political parties and the leaders, and the people and society of Pakistan to make this a successful transition.
Thank you very much.