The United States should not rush to judgment on Pakistan and resort to short-sighted measures like aid reduction that may imperil the important relationship, former U.S. defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld argued in an interview. “We ought to take a deep breath and recognize it would make us feel good for about five minutes if we cut off aid to Pakistan,” he warned in an appearance on FOX News channel. His comments came amid suggestions by some American lawmakers to cut assistance for the key regional country in reaction to discovery of slain al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad. Rumsfeld said he has heard of no evidence that may indicate the Pakistani government’s complicity at any level in bin Laden’s being able to hide in the country. The U.S. relationship with Pakistan, though complex, is important, he said,urging a “measured and mature” approach to ties with the country. The U.S. should “not react and say cut off all the money.” “I remember we did cut off all of our military to military relation in the 80s, 90s. They exploded a nuclear weapon we said that is terrible and let’s not talk to them. That doesn’t get us far. We ended up with a generation of military people that didn’t have generations with U.S. military and Pakistani military. It seems we have to be mature, measured and recognize we live in a world where other countries aren’t like us,they are not. And we weren’t even like us 50, 100 years ago. We are different. They are different.” He also noted that Pakistan has been “enormously helpful in some respects and not helpful in others.” “We ought to keep working that relationship and try to improve it.The question isn’t, are they good or bad? It is mixed. The question is what is the trajectory? Which way are they going? Are we improving our relationship in a way that it is more beneficial to the United States?
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