'ISI responsible for death of Americans in Afghanistan'

"Pakistan has become the main threat to Afghanistan. Pakistan's intelligence service is the biggest danger to the Afghan government. It is also a tremendous threat to the lives of American troops," Senator Mark Kirk said in his speech early this week after his third two-week Afghan assignment as Naval Reserve Intelligence Commander.

"Let me be clear: many Americans died in Afghanistan because of Pakistan's ISI. Afghans are most victimised by their neighbours, the Pakistanis," he said.

"I first served as a reservist in Afghanistan in 2008. I believed that Pakistan was complicated, that we have many interests there and that we must advance diplomatically. I no longer agree with that," he said.

Identifying the Haqqani network as the new face of terror, Kirk said that the Haqqanis are backed and protected by Pakistan's own intelligence service.

Statements by Pakistani government officials to the contrary are direct lies, the Senator claimed.

"The Haqqani network kills Americans, attacks the elected government of Afghanistan and remains protected in its Pakistani headquarters of Miriam Shah," Kirk said.

Without that Pakistani safe haven, it would suffer the same fate as al-Qaeda, he said.

Afghan and US Special Operations teams take out many Taliban commanders and operators each night but numerous key Haqqani leaders spend all day planning attacks on Americans in Afghanistan -- then sleep soundly in their beds in Pakistan, the Senator said.

"In such an environment and with our deficits and debt, aid to Pakistan seems naive at best and counter-productive at worst. I am seriously reconsidering and rethinking how well aid to Pakistan served us," Kirk said.