Pentagon turns down lawmakers' request for Af-Pak study group

The Pentagon's negative response to the long-standing demand has angered some top American Congressmen.

"I am perplexed at how you can continue to hold the belief that spending USD 1 million to study our strategy in South Asia is diverting resources," wrote Congressman Frank Wolf in a letter to US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

"We have made steady progress in developing Afghanistan security forces and do not support diverting resources to establish APSG," General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of US Joint Forces, told Wolf in a letter dated August 10.

The position of the Department of Defense in this regard has not changed, he noted.

Asserting that the situation in Afghanistan is not improving, given the recent increase in violence in the country, Wolf in his letter dated August 17 said that he "simply cannot understand" the reasons being given by the Pentagon to him on this issue.