Zardari in WikiLeaks

The US announcement of its proposed military pullout from Afghanistan had boosted anti-American forces in the country, President Asif Ali Zardari told Senator John Kerry and added that Washington could not afford to keep that time-line for troop withdrawal from Kabul, according to WikiLeaks cables partly published by The Hindu on Monday.
Based on a meeting in February last year, the cable to Washington by US Ambassador in Pakistan Anne Patterson gave an account of Mr Zardari’s economic worries and his perception of Iran’s role in the region.
“Kerry asked Zardari what effect President Obama’s announcement of a US drawdown date had had on the possibility of success in
Afghanistan. Zardari answered that it had given a boost to those fighting against the United States, but that they ‘live in illusion’.”
The cable added: “Zardari doubted that the US would actually leave Afghanistan in two and a half years, adding that ‘no one can afford that’.
Kerry asked if dialogue with the Taliban was possible. Zardari gave a qualified yes: in specific regions, like Quetta, dialogue might be possible, but on a larger scale it was not.”
Mr Kerry asked to what degree events in Iran have an impact in Pakistan. Mr Zardari said Iran needs to be engaged, and recounted his visit to Iran as an emissary of the free world.
Mr Kerry noted that with the December mosque bombing in Rawalpindi, Pakistani terrorism had changed, Ms Patterson said. “He asked if
Pakistan was going to commit to doing whatever it takes to get rid of extremism. Zardari replied that he was thinking of the future and what will win people away from extremism in 10 or 15 years. He added, however, that he was ‘fighting a war on a shoestring budget’.”

Source: http://www.dawn.com/2011/03/22/time-not-ripe-for-us-to-leave-kabul-zardari-in-wikileaks.html