As an under secretary of defense, Iklé led the effort to lobby for National Security Decision Directive 166 ("Expanded US Aid to Afghan Guerrillas"), signed by Reagan in March 1985. When he visited Pakistan in April 1985, Iklé found that the CIA was still pursuing the war in a halfhearted manner. "We began to understand that what to us was a very big deal back in Washington, from the point of view of the president, is a second order priority handled by one GS service officer," according to Michael Pillsbury, Iklé's deputy.