Muhammad Atif, Urdu VOA News, Washington.
President Barack Obama criticized Pakistan for ties to "unsavory characters" opposed to American aims to end the insurgency in Afghanistan. Obama acknowledged that the U.S. policy of going after al- Qaeda operatives in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan "could not have been as successful as we have been without the cooperation of the Pakistan government." Obama rejected the idea that his administration would withhold aid for flood victims "because of poor decisions by their intelligence services." He conceded that Americans are "not going to feel comfortable with a long-term strategic relationship with Pakistan if we don't think that they're mindful of our interests as well." In a press conference on Wednesday former Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf said that he is "confident that the ISI is not supporting the extremist elements in cross border attacks because it is against the policy which is to eliminate Al-Qaida and Taliban. *INT* Stephen Cohen is an expert on South Asian security issues. He said militant groups are a dangerous instrument because it can blow back. Cohen said "instead of state building and nation building the Pakistani establishment is conducting a diplomacy based on supporting these groups (extremist groups) in other countries. It is dysfunctional and it is helping Pakistan to destroy itself as a coherent state and that is why there so many internal terrorist attacks.