Kerry expressed "grave concerns" over the fact that Osama bin Laden was found in Pakistan, ostensibly a U.S. ally.
U.S. Sen. John Kerry expressed "grave concerns" over the fact that Osama bin Laden presence in Pakistan during a meeting with that country's officials Monday.
Kerry, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also defended the U.S. decision not to inform Pakistani officials of the operation that ultimately killed the terrorist leader
"Faced with a second chance to capture bin Laden, no American President could afford to take even the slightest chance that he might slip through our grasp again," Kerry said in a statement to the media after the meeting. "As a result, this had to be an American operation and it had to be one that protected the operational security."
In a joint announcement, Kerry, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, pledged to hit the "reset button" on cooperation between the two countries "in any future actions against high-value targets in Pakistan."
Kerry did, however, acknowledge concern among U.S. lawmakers over bin Laden's presence in the country. He said:
I expressed as clearly as possible the grave concerns in the United States over Osama bin Laden's presence in Pakistan and the existence here — continuing existence of sanctuaries for our adversaries in Afghanistan. And I emphasized to my Pakistani friends that many in Congress are raising tough questions about our ongoing assistance to the government of Pakistan in light of the events of the past weeks. Read Kerry's full statement »
Some members of Congress have expressed concern over the nearly-$3 billion in aid provided annually to Pakistan by the United States, and The Associated Press reported last week that a lobbying firm representing Pakistan's government began working to refute claims that the Pakistani government was complicit in harboring bin Laden soon after U.S. commandos had killed him. The AP reported that members from both parties in Congress had concerns:
Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, chairwoman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that controls the foreign operations budget, has proposed suspending direct government-to-government assistance to Pakistan.
"My opposition to the program has only been heightened by the discovery of the most notorious terrorist in the world living hundreds of yards from a Pakistani military installation for more than five years," Granger wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. "This reinforces my greater concern that the government may be incapable of distributing U.S. funds in a transparent manner that allows proper oversight of taxpayer dollars."
Rep. Howard Berman of California, the senior Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a letter to Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates that he has "deep and ongoing concerns regarding the impact of U.S. security assistance to Pakistan — concerns that have been exacerbated by the discovery of Osama bin Laden's lair in Abbottabad."
Kerry told reporters in Pakistan Monday that there was "too much at stake" to abandon the relationship between the two countries.