Osama’s Abbottabad compound highlights inefficiency of Pak military, intelligence’

The revelation that Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was living less than a mile from Pakistan's national military academy has raised serious questions about the inefficiency of Pakistan's military and intelligence services and brought into sharp focus the weakness of the Pakistani state, a retired Pakistan Army official has said .
"There is now huge pressure from civil society and opposition parties to appoint a commission to investigate the raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, and to take action against those responsible for the lapses that allowed American forces to enter Pakistani territory undetected," General (retired) Talat Masood wrote in an article for The New York Times.

"The volatile situation in Pakistan is matched by the understandable outrage of Americans that the world's most notorious terrorist lived unmolested for five years in a city teeming with Pakistani military officers. But any overreaction by Washington could endanger Pakistani democracy and further empower the military - or even lead to an outright military takeover," he added.

He also stressed that for the United States, support for Pakistan's civilian, democratic government is the only way to assure regional peace, stability and prosperity.

"Washington cannot separate its military relationship with Pakistan from its political relationship: America needs Pakistan's cooperation to permit the smooth withdrawal of the majority of American troops from Afghanistan before 2012, while the Obama administration must disentangle itself from the Afghan war to help ensure the president's re-election. And there can be no peace in Afghanistan without a modicum of Pakistani assistance," Masood wrote.

"For Pakistan, America's military and economic assistance is vital. Moreover, when Pakistan is facing enormous domestic difficulties, it can ill afford to antagonize America. Leaders in both countries must therefore step back from confrontation and find ways to repair the damage. Pushing Pakistan's political leadership to the brink is not an option," he added.

The retired army official further said that Washington should avoid the temptation to pursue aggressive diplomacy, cut off economic assistance or intensify its drone attacks.

"The most dangerous and counterproductive step would be for the United States Congress to drastically cut financing for Pakistan's military. Such a punitive measure might satisfy the American need to express displeasure, but it would have several unhappy consequences," Masood wrote.