Wikileaks: Pakistani Military Taught to Dislike US

Leaked U.S. diplomatic cables accuse the Pakistani military of purposefully trying to instill anti-Americanism in many of its top officers.

The 2008 cables obtained by the WikiLeaks website and other media organizations discusses classes for military officers at Pakistan's National Defense University.

In one cable, a U.S. military officer who attended classes at the military university said the lecturers would teach the officers information that was heavily biased against America.

The American officer said that one guest lecturer, whom he described as a Pakistani one-star general, "claimed the U.S. National Security Agency actively trains correspondents for media organizations." Other lecturers, he said, "thought the CIA was in charge of U.S. media."

The American officer also said students in the classes shared "many of the biases prevalent in the Muslim world, "including a belief that the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington were part of a "Jewish conspiracy."

In contrast, he said the Pakistani instructors and students were adamant in their approval of all things Chinese.

Anti-Americanism runs high in Pakistan, but its has deepened since U.S. special forces covertly entered the country in a May 2 raid that killed al-Qaida leader, Osama bin Laden.

Separate cables written by former U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson referenced what she called a "lost generation" of Pakistani military officers.

Patterson said many of these officers missed out on training opportunities in the United States after Pakistan was slapped with sanctions in the 1990s for pursuing nuclear weapons.

The former ambassador suggested increasing U.S. exchange programs with the Pakistani military to give Pakistani officers a chance to get a more balanced view of the U.S.

In an interview with the Reuters news agency, a teacher at Pakistan's National Defense University denied the allegations.

Hamayoun Khan said he has not seen any indication of anti-Americanism.