Washington, Oct 29 (PTI) The long-winding debate in America in formulating its new Af-Pak strategy is costing US credibility with its NATO allies and is also confusing both Afghanistan and Pakistan, a noted expert said today.

Labelling influential senator John Kerry's plan as "lacking in boldness", noted scholar Lisa Curtis from the Heritage Foundation said he did not provide a convincing case against implementation of General McChrystal's specific recommendations.

"Kerry rightly admitted that a US troop pullout could trigger a civil war in the country and destabilise neighbouring Pakistan.



Kerry in his speech at the Council on Foreign Relations had criticised McChrystal's Afghanistan assessment for going "too far, too fast," yet he failed to lay out an alternative strategy for success, Curtis said.

He also acknowledged that the costs of failure in Afghanistan are "very real.