We will also fully support an Afghan political process that includes reconciliation with those Taliban who breaktieswith al Qaeda, renounce violence and accept the Afghan constitution.
The pressure the Israeli government exerted on the Bush administration compelled it to break off tieswith the PLO in June 1990 after the PLO committed a terror attack in Israel.
On the other hand, Mr Gates worries about China's tendency to break off its tieswith the American military whenever America does something it dislikes.
He is one of the many workers using the long break to cut tieswith employers in hopes of finding higher pay in factories that produce televisions, mobile phones and other gadgets.
Punj Lloyd got its first overseas break as a sub-contractor to PT Trihasra Bimanusa Tunggal, an Indonesian firm with Suharto family ties that had the contract to build a 130-mile pipeline for Pertamina, the state-owned petroleum firm.