All options on table if Pakistan continues to support terrorism

From Lalit K Jha
Washington, Sept 26 (PTI) Amid a diplomatic row over
alleged links between ISI and terror groups, a top American
Senator has said that US needs to have "all options" on the
table if Pakistan does not abandon the policy of embracing
terrorism as part of its national strategy.
"If they continue to embrace terrorism as a part of their
national strategy, we're going to have to put all options on
the table including defending our troops," Senator Lindsay
Graham told the Fox news in an interview Sunday.
Using a tough language against Pakistan, Graham said it
is a time of choosing for Pakistan, which so far the US has
been identifying as a key ally in the war against terrorism.
"I am saying that we know the Haqqani Network operates
with impunity inside of Pakistan in a town called Miranshah,"
he said, alleging that Pakistan is terrorism itself.
He said top Pentagon officials, including Defense
Secretary Leon Panetta and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, are right that the ISI, the
intelligence agency in Pakistan assist them directly and
indirectly.
Even as the Pakistanis have done "some good things with
us against al-Qaida," he said it believes that "we are leaving
Afghanistan."
"They're betting the Taliban will come back. The Pakistan
military lives like kings within Pakistan. A democracy in
Afghanistan is a threat to Pakistani military control in their
own mind," the top Senator said.
He underlined that it is "a time of choosing" for
Pakistan.