fatman17
PDF THINK TANK: CONSULTANT
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2007
- Messages
- 32,563
- Reaction score
- 98
- Country
- Location
Saturday, May 30, 2009
How aid can earn US goodwill in Pakistan
* ABC report says US hopes rebuilding schools, creating agriculture projects, assisting medical centres in quake-affected areas can win over locals
Daily Times Monitor
LAHORE: Many US officials admit, says an ABC report, that US aid, spent mostly on the military, has created little goodwill among average Pakistanis.
The Pakistanis who describe themselves as pro-American do so only privately and are worried by the level of anger towards the United States. Winning over: The US hopes rebuilding schools, creating agriculture projects and assisting medical centres in the quake-affected areas can win over locals. It also hopes that such investments will help fill a vacuum of poor education and governance that militants often exploit.
It is a hope that the US embassy in Islamabad also tried to deliver while announcing $26.6 million funding to help those displaced by the Malakand operation.
The war Pakistan launched in part because of US pressure and the government has called it a war for the countrys existence has created its largest humanitarian crisis ever. About 2.4 million people have fled their homes since late April, according to the United Nations, and many have little food or water.
Asked if the battle was worth the suffering, US ambassador Anne Patterson said, It is also crucial to remember the reasons for that operation. The alternative is living a life under fear and intimidation by extremists who would rule without justice or compassion. They have shown no mercy and no morality to the citizens. Flogging, beheading, and cold-blooded murder has been their way of life. Children like those in this camp deserve better futures than those offered by terrorists.
It is those futures that critics of US policy in Pakistan accuse the US of failing to provide when it gave Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf billions of dollars to spend, largely at his discretion.
Most Pakistanis associate a single policy with the US: CIA-sponsored drone attacks that have killed ten of a continuously refilled list of 20 Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders but also caused too many civilian casualties.
A farmer in Kurram Agency told ABC, This is not against the Taliban They are killing our innocent children.
In Mansehra, however, the US assistance has rebuilt schools and basic health units destroyed by the earthquake.
Greg Mortenson, a Nobel peace prize nominee who has spent much of the past 15 years building schools in Kashmir and eastern Afghanistan, says the USAID is bloated and overstretched.
How aid can earn US goodwill in Pakistan
* ABC report says US hopes rebuilding schools, creating agriculture projects, assisting medical centres in quake-affected areas can win over locals
Daily Times Monitor
LAHORE: Many US officials admit, says an ABC report, that US aid, spent mostly on the military, has created little goodwill among average Pakistanis.
The Pakistanis who describe themselves as pro-American do so only privately and are worried by the level of anger towards the United States. Winning over: The US hopes rebuilding schools, creating agriculture projects and assisting medical centres in the quake-affected areas can win over locals. It also hopes that such investments will help fill a vacuum of poor education and governance that militants often exploit.
It is a hope that the US embassy in Islamabad also tried to deliver while announcing $26.6 million funding to help those displaced by the Malakand operation.
The war Pakistan launched in part because of US pressure and the government has called it a war for the countrys existence has created its largest humanitarian crisis ever. About 2.4 million people have fled their homes since late April, according to the United Nations, and many have little food or water.
Asked if the battle was worth the suffering, US ambassador Anne Patterson said, It is also crucial to remember the reasons for that operation. The alternative is living a life under fear and intimidation by extremists who would rule without justice or compassion. They have shown no mercy and no morality to the citizens. Flogging, beheading, and cold-blooded murder has been their way of life. Children like those in this camp deserve better futures than those offered by terrorists.
It is those futures that critics of US policy in Pakistan accuse the US of failing to provide when it gave Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf billions of dollars to spend, largely at his discretion.
Most Pakistanis associate a single policy with the US: CIA-sponsored drone attacks that have killed ten of a continuously refilled list of 20 Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders but also caused too many civilian casualties.
A farmer in Kurram Agency told ABC, This is not against the Taliban They are killing our innocent children.
In Mansehra, however, the US assistance has rebuilt schools and basic health units destroyed by the earthquake.
Greg Mortenson, a Nobel peace prize nominee who has spent much of the past 15 years building schools in Kashmir and eastern Afghanistan, says the USAID is bloated and overstretched.
