Former US NSA Sandy Berger dies

Sandy Berger, who as national security advisor to then US President Bill Clinton played a crucial role in America's tilt towards India during the Kargil war with Pakistan, has died.
Berger who was NSA from 1997 to 2001 was suffering from cancer. He was 70 when he died yesterday.
In a statement, President Barack Obama described him as one of America's foremost national security leaders and acknowledged his contribution in improving ties with India.
"Today, his legacy can be seen in a peaceful Balkans, our strong alliance with Japan, our deeper relationships with India and China," Obama said.
"From his service in President Carter's State Department to President Clinton's National Security Advisor, Sandy devoted himself to strengthening American leadership in an uncertain world," he added.

Writing for the Daily Beast, Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst and now an well-known authority on India and Pakistan, said Berger in his finest hour averted a nuclear war between Pakistan and India.

"It was early in the morning of July 4, 1999 and President Bill Clinton was convening his national-security team in the Oval Office. Pakistan and India were at war and Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, was across Pennsylvania Avenue at Blair House asking for Clinton's help," Riedel wrote.
"Samuel Berger, the president's national security adviser, opened the discussion. This is the most important day of your presidency, Mr President," he wrote.

"Two nuclear-armed states are at war and locked in an escalation ladder that could end in Armageddon. You have one shot at stopping the spiral. You must convince Sharif to back down and withdraw his troops behind the old ceasefire line," he said.
According to Riedel, it was Berger who played a key role in changing US policy towards Pakistan during the Kargil war.
Riedel was present in the room when Clinton discussed the Kargil war with Pakistan's then and current prime minister Sharif.
"It was Sandy at his best. He cut through the complexity of the situation to grasp its essence and to propose a clear solution. It reflected his conviction that the Office of the Presidency came with a power and authority to get hard things done and a moral responsibility to do them," Riedel said.