Much waste in US reimbursements to Pakistan

[Imran Khan]

New security assistance for Pakistan on the cards




Saturday, December 20, 2008
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon is working on a proposal to provide additional security assistance to Pakistan in support of its counterterrorism efforts along the Afghan border.

A senior official of the US Department of Defence said the proposal for new assistance for the key South Asian anti-terrorism partner has come from Central Command and is at early stages. The proposed funding is in addition to existing programs, including coalition support fund and foreign military financing.

“Right now we have got, you know, in addition to the coalition support fund and the foreign military financing, there is a proposal coming out of CENTCOM to provide some additional kinds of financial assistance that would assist the Pakistani military in their counterterrorism operations,” Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said at a briefing.

“But this is just a proposal at this point, has not gotten to this — to the secretary, has not been briefed to Congress. I think it is in the conceptual stages. And I do not have really anything further beyond that,” he added.

 

[pkpatriotic]

Pakistan’s Anti-terror Offensive Assists Afghan War Aims, Gates Says
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2008 – Renewed Pakistani military action targeting al-Qaida and Taliban terrorists lodged in the western part of their country benefits Pakistan and assists in the fight against insurgents in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said during a Public Broadcasting Service interview that aired Dec. 17.

A U.S. government review of the strategy and tactics employed in Afghanistan recognizes “the importance that Pakistan plays in success or failure in Afghanistan and the need for us to work closely with Pakistan and to view Afghanistan more in a regional context than in isolation,” Gates told PBS interviewer Charlie Rose.

The former Pakistani president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, ultimately failed to dissuade citizens living in ungoverned areas of western Pakistan from allowing al-Qaida and Taliban militants to cross the border into Afghanistan to launch attacks on U.S., coalition and Afghan security forces. Musharraf resigned Aug. 18.

Meanwhile, the Taliban stepped up their operations in Afghanistan. A new government replaced the one headed by Musharraf, but Pakistani military efforts against militants operating in their country remained uneven, until recently.

The Pakistanis “withdrew from the fight earlier this year, which frankly, gave the Taliban an opportunity to surge into Afghanistan,” Gates said.

But, “now the Pakistanis are back in the fight,” Gates said. This development, he said, is causing Taliban and al-Qaida members operating in the border region “to watch their backs.”

Pakistani forces also are working hard, Gates said, to safeguard the truck convoys that carry military supplies from Pakistan into Afghanistan.

Most people don’t know that the Pakistanis “have lost several thousand men; soldiers killed in this struggle in the western part of Pakistan,” Gates said. “They have been in the fight.”

Militants in Pakistan have been implicated in the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. This revelation, Gates said, is likely giving the Pakistani government some food for thought as it considers how it should deal with terrorists operating on their soil.

“I think they’re beginning to understand that the extremists in ungoverned spaces in their west have become an existential threat to Pakistan,” Gates said, “And, I think that’s one of the reasons the army is back in the fight, and one of the reasons why I hope that we will be able to work closer together in the future.”

Through it all, Pakistan remains a valued friend and ally of the United States, Gates pointed out.

“They have captured and killed more al-Qaida than anybody in the world, except maybe us,” Gates said of Pakistan’s contributions in support of the war against global terrorism.

Looking ahead, the United States “will clearly be looking for ways to have a stronger partnership with Pakistan,” Gates said, “to see if we can help them with some of their economic problems, and at the same time, encourage them to take [more] action in these ungoverned spaces in western Pakistan where the Taliban and al-Qaida and some of these other violent extremists have found sanctuary.”

 

[ajpirzada]

they fu*** a**holes. our killing of muslims brothers assist them.
we know we are digging our own grave but still we are busy digging coz the would be killer is tellin us we are digging it fine.

 

[hasang20]

we dont need assistance we saw whats clearly happening in Iraq and Afganistan a big and an epic fail attemp by US ; i laff alot when they say our borders arent secure i want to bring the topic of Mexico-US border ROFL ; I think we should train "ROYAL" british army n US army for getting the ballz.

 

[must7]

Is this funding something you guys support? Do you worry about too much US dependency if you accept this and get used to the extra funding (that can be cut off any time)? Should I write my Congressman and Senators and ask them to support this kind of appropriation? Along with infrastructure project (roads, water systems, etc.) funding in a separate appropriation?

Truthseeker, the actual truth is that US is not at all interested in carrot & stick approach to the problem. USA actions in this part of the world is mean to create a backlash not only against USA but also against Pakistan.

This extremist response by the maniac population of the Muslim world enables USA to black mail Muslim countries into accepting US foothold in the area let alone in the international waters and it allows US to bring about the "fear meantility" in the regions leaders enabling US to further it's own agenda ! A clear example can be seen when Ms. RICE came to Pakistan in the aftermath of Mumbai explosions she was came with a list of Pakistani nationals like Gen. Gul Hameed, who is nothing other than a vocal critic of US actions past 9/11 !

The US knows is very well that ROZ could play a very important part in calming down the local population of our autonomous region but after accepting it, it nos now more than 2 decades (don't forget we have been talking about it since the departure of USSR) and up to this date hardly any ROZ working in the war zone areas ! Why ?

Will ROZ help reduce extremism in Pakistan? FTA would do more! RUPEE NEWS: Recording History, Narrating Archives, Strategic Intellibrief Analysis: Noticias de Rupia | Nouvelles de Roupie | Rupiennachrichten | ??????? ????? | ???


Will ROZ help reduce extremism in Pakistan? FTA would do more!
Posted on March 15, 2008 by Moin Ansari
Pakistan has been struggling to get a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the USA. She has also been asking America free access for her Textiles to the USA. On both counts, there was a “penny-wise-pound-foolish” “No bid“.

Although Pakistan has been a leading partner of the US in the war against terrorism, in terms of trade in goods and services Pakistan falls fairly low in the list of US trade partners. The share of exports from Pakistan to the US market remained stagnant at around 0.21 per cent during the past four years. Dawn

Just imagine if the USA had agreed to the FTA and the free access of Textiles, this would have transferred more than $6 Billion per annum to the cotton producing areas of Pakistan. $42 Billion plus increased export of other commodities would have created new opportunities for the farmers. They would have sent their kids to the best schools in Pakistan and America–not to madarssas. Thomas Freidman of the New York Times suggested opening up American markets for Pakistan products this in 2001!

The cumulative affect of $40-$100 Billion would have totally transformed the entire infrastructure of the country because the money would have gone directly to the farmers without any leakage into kleptomaniac hands of government officials.

However it is now seven years later, and neither the FTA, nor the access for textiles materialized. There is still time! This could start in 2008.

When President Bush stopped over in Pakistan after his visit to India, he promised Pakistan the creation of Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZ)–areas that could export products to the USA without any duty.

Later all of Afghanistan was added a a ROZ. Pakistan tried to get all of the NWFP and Baluchistan as ROZ, but it got approval for only the border areas. The districts identified for the establishment of ROZs included: Punjab: Bahawalpur, D.G. Khan, Jhang and Muzafargarh; Sindh: Badin, Jacobabad, Khairpur, Sanghar, Tharparkar and Thatta; NWFP: Bunir, D.I. Khan, Hangu, Lower Dir, Swat and Upper Dir; Balochistan: Gwadar, Kalat, Kharan, Sibi and South Waziristan

The USA is spending trillions of Dollars on wars. An FTA and access for Pakistani textile goods to America would not be aid, or help. It would be an opportunity for Pakistani farmers to sell goods in markets they did not have access to.

This is the Reconstruction Opportunity Zone (ROZ). it should be extended to all of Pakistan, which would help unite the economies of both the countries, bring them closer and reduce terror. However who can get beyond the American tin ear?

ROZs bill introduced in US Senate

* Pak-Afghan border areas will benefit from legislation By Khalid Hasan

Washington: The US State Department has welcomed the introduction of legislation in the Senate that will authorise President George W Bush to designate Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) throughout Afghanistan, and in the border regions and earthquake-affected areas of Pakistan.

Specified goods produced within the ROZs will be eligible to a duty-free entry to the United States.

“Passage of the legislation as drafted would send a strong message of support to the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan, symbolising America’s long-term commitment to the security, peace, and prosperity of the region,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

The bill, McCormack added, constituted a vital component of the [US] administration’s three-pronged military, political, and economic strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“By encouraging production in ROZs, this bill would fuel sustainable economic development and provide legitimate employment opportunities, particularly in the border area, as an alternative to violent extremism.”

ROZs, according to the State Department, are designed to leverage the power of the private sector to create jobs and fuel sustainable economic development in this critical region. In so doing, ROZs will provide a potent tool in the fight against extremism by giving the Afghans and Pakistanis a critical chance to improve their own lives.

Senators Maria Cantwell, Orrin Hatch, Kit Bond, Joe Lieberman and Chuck Hagel had introduced the bill