(Image Source: CBS News)

 

BY STEVEN HSIEH

ANCHOR LAUREN GORES

White House spokesperson Jay Carney stepped up the pressure on the Pakistani government to cut ties with the Haqqani militant network.

This, after Islamabad officials said they will not take action against the network – which is under review by the State Department for terrorist designation.  Foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty tells CNN’s Wolf Blitzer what could be at stake here.

Blitzer: “Would that automatically force the Obama administration to sever that $2 billion a year aid package to Pakistan?”

Dougherty: “The repercussions of making that determination that they are a terrorist organization would lead you to say that the ISI is supporting it, which could lead you to that step, which could be a radical and important step.”

Last week, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen connected Pakistani spies to a deadly raid on the American Embassy in Kabul.  Pakistani officials deny that claim.

And on Tuesday – The New York Times printed a front-page story reviewing a 2007 ambush that killed an American major and wounded four others. 

The story reveals the attack, kept under wraps by Washington, was carried out by Pakistanis.

Pakistan’s foreign minister defended the country’s record on fighting terrorism before the United Nations Tuesday. 

And two days prior, she said this in response to accusations of Pakistani double-dealing.

“I’m a bit shocked, and certainly surprised at comments such as that… We seek your active cooperation to be able to work with us as partners, but to be able to appreciate the role that Pakistan has been able to play, rather than having the tendency to use Pakistan of a scapegoat."

But writer Christopher Hitchens says – the Pakistani government is not our friend, and its’ about time we wake up and realize it.

“…the overdue decision to call these enemies by their right names is so potentially significant, and will, one hopes, soon be followed by a complete breach with those we have been so humiliatingly subsidizing to sabotage us.”  

A statement on the Taliban’s Web site claims full control over the Haqqani network, denying any co ection with the Pakistani government.