Gates' Gaffe Spells Trouble for U.S. in AfPak

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates may have just dug the Obama administration a public relations hole in Pakistan too deep to overcome with American military might. In his one-day trip to Islamabad last Thursday, Gates confirmed what many Pakistanis and Western observers have long-feared: that the private defense contractors Blackwater –- recently renamed Xe Services and U.S. Training Center –- and DynCorp are operating inside the country.

"They're operating as individual companies here in Pakistan," Gates inadvertently revealed in an interview with the Pakistani TV station Express TV. "There are rules concerning the contracting companies. If they're contracting with us or with the State Department here in Pakistan, then there are very clear rules set forth by the State Department and ourselves."

Setting aside that Blackwater is almost certainly not operating merely as an "individual" company in Pakistan –- but, in fact, in direct partnerships with the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), the CIA, and the Pakistani government itself –- Gates' admission marks a complete reversal of previous statements by the Defense Department, the U.S. Embassy, Blackwater, and the Pakistani government, all of whom had flatly denied that Blackwater was operating in the country.

In fact, Gates' stunning remarks do not come as a surprise to the Pakistani media, who have alleged that Blackwater has been carrying out secret operations within Pakistan's borders for months. Yet, the Defense Secretary's statements have created an instant firestorm amongst a Pakistani public already deeply resentful of American drone strikes and other violations of the country's national sovereignty.

In the face of intense domestic pressure, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik had boldly proclaimed on numerous prior occasions that he would resign if it were proven that Blackwater is operating inside Pakistan.  Whether or not he now follows through on that pledge is less important than the more immediate concern for the Obama administration. Gates' admission places Blackwater -– and the U.S. military –- deep inside a country against which America has not issued an official declaration of war. That a company currently being tried in U.S. courts for alleged war crimes in Iraq is being used within Pakistan's borders will only serve to widen the trust-deficit, in the words of Gates himself, between the U.S. and Pakistan.

Success in Afghanistan -– however defined –- hinges on the cooperation of the Pakistani government and people in the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda presence in the country. If the Obama administration is to dig itself out of trouble and enlist the Pakistani people in America's fight against al Qaeda, coming clean about the details of Blackwater's role inside Pakistan would be a good place to start.

President Obama used last night's State of the Union address to hit the metaphorical reset button on his domestic economic agenda.  In light of Gates' colossal blunder, the president would be well-advised to also swiftly rethink his AfPak strategy, before America's hole becomes truly too deep to reverse.

Photo credit: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff