Pakistan considers imposing tax on Nato supply trucks
- Thread starter Lankan Ranger
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What are you implying ..can you be more specific ..off course this is an American war..it is now ..and it was then(1980s).
In this game.. Pakistan is a pawn and American establishment is the Bishop and American way of life is the king. In a chess game it is always Pawns who die first, before the King is taken down.
It not like Pakistan had any choice weather to join this war or not!!..as you say the choice was simple this time around "Is Pakistan with America or against America"
But however choices were present before(2001)..Pakistan had plenty of options before ..Nobody forced Pakistan to be a Pawn in fight against Communism.
As far as Tax is concerned.. Pakistan can try its luck...maybe America won't translate "it" as a hostile act.
BATMAN
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SC seeks report on Afghan transit trade misuse
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought a report on the alleged misuse of Afghan and NATO transit trade arrangements, as it issued notices to the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) chairman and Customs officials.
The action was taken after a newspaper reported that over 10,000 containers were cleared by Customs officials on fake documentation provided by the Afghan Consulate. These goods were then distributed in Pakistan instead of being sent to Afghanistan. According to a statement issued by the Supreme Court, foreign goods were being brought into the country in a clandestine manner and were then released without paying Customs duty amounting to Rs 220 billions.
The SC has now asked FBR chairman and the Federal Investigation Agency director general for their comments on the issue.
The statement said that the issue was already under examination by the court when an identical episode seemed to have happened, wherein authorities seized a huge quantity of contraband liquor that was being smuggled into Pakistan in two containers.
After an investigation, it was revealed that the containers were registered under the Afghanistan trade agreement, and were supposed to be carrying food stuff, assorted beverages, soft drinks and fresh juices. However in reality, liquor including wine and beer, was being smuggled through them.
Later, police mishandled the case. Therefore, Customs authorities were directed to provide a report. Meanwhile, the Islamabad SSP was also ordered to prepare a comprehensive about the incident. The case involves important question of public importance with regard to fundamental rights, the statement said.
The court also now directed various newspapers to provide the necessary evidence in this regard and asked the attorney general of Pakistan to assist the court. The case was then adjourned until September 23.
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought a report on the alleged misuse of Afghan and NATO transit trade arrangements, as it issued notices to the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) chairman and Customs officials.
The action was taken after a newspaper reported that over 10,000 containers were cleared by Customs officials on fake documentation provided by the Afghan Consulate. These goods were then distributed in Pakistan instead of being sent to Afghanistan. According to a statement issued by the Supreme Court, foreign goods were being brought into the country in a clandestine manner and were then released without paying Customs duty amounting to Rs 220 billions.
The SC has now asked FBR chairman and the Federal Investigation Agency director general for their comments on the issue.
The statement said that the issue was already under examination by the court when an identical episode seemed to have happened, wherein authorities seized a huge quantity of contraband liquor that was being smuggled into Pakistan in two containers.
After an investigation, it was revealed that the containers were registered under the Afghanistan trade agreement, and were supposed to be carrying food stuff, assorted beverages, soft drinks and fresh juices. However in reality, liquor including wine and beer, was being smuggled through them.
Later, police mishandled the case. Therefore, Customs authorities were directed to provide a report. Meanwhile, the Islamabad SSP was also ordered to prepare a comprehensive about the incident. The case involves important question of public importance with regard to fundamental rights, the statement said.
The court also now directed various newspapers to provide the necessary evidence in this regard and asked the attorney general of Pakistan to assist the court. The case was then adjourned until September 23.
Be patient it takes time to answer to everybody ..I prefer answering shorter posts first!!
alibaz
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Von Hölle;1199008 said:
It was you who thought US doing Pakistan any favour by giving aid . Whatever Pakistan is doing is its own interest and similarly US is not doing any favour it is serving its own interests . What we want that whatever is given to Pakistan or vice versa should be transparent and nothing should look like a favour.
However I also said If you are too impatient with your goose..you might kill it get nothing in return ..This war which was started as USA's war ..is now Pakistan's war as well weather you accept it or not..you have already chosen you a side.. and if USA abandons Pakistan or vice versa ..you will still be fighting it.
BATMAN
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Von Hölle;1199098 said:
You got it all wrong, we want to help NATO and US by pointing out that some of black sheep in their ranks and in Pakistan as well, are running a large scale smuggling network in camouflage of free transit facility.
Simply because it is tax free from export to import.
Since news paper busted this illicit trade long ago and complicit authorities on both sides kept eyes closed.
We will appreciate very much if NATO and US help/co-operate in this investigation and it is not difficult, the evidence is out their in the markets and in the logic.... how does the foreign private contractors in Afghanistan get their stuff inside.
It is reported that the number of private foreigners are more than combined US and NATO presence.
In Iraq similar activity was reported and so was in Pakistan US embassy officials were implicated for bribing minister level personals in present regime.
Smuggling and bribing is crime in Pakistan and i hope it is in US as well.
The crime gets serious in present circumstance as the ideology behind free transit was a noble cause i.e. to aid our allied nations and to honor the dead and alive soldiers.
What shook me is that i expect US and NATO to be better organised than Pakistan... while in this case it is our news paper who took the lead in busting the circle of crime.
I have written in my post we don't wish to tax... i even propose US to strictly refuse any demands of tax as it will be unfair.
If Pakistan do so it will be an open bias and will prove Pakistan's law is partial and this is even bigger insult.
We will only, end up annoying our friendly nations like China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia etc.
IMO... it is better that tax should be imposed on people of Pakistan to repair the damage to infrastructure but smuggling must be stopped as it is damaging Pakistan industry and inflicting heavy loss on our revenue.
BATMAN
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Afghanistan Contractors Outnumber Troops
Despite Surge in U.S. Deployments, More Civilians Are Posted in War Zone
By August Cole
Global Research, November 22, 2009
Afghanistan Contractors Outnumber Troops
Wall Street Journal - 2009-08-22
Even as U.S. troops surge to new highs in Afghanistan they are outnumbered by military contractors working alongside them, according to a Defense Department census due to be distributed to Congress -- illustrating how hard it is for the U.S. to wean itself from the large numbers of war-zone contractors that proved controversial in Iraq.
The number of military contractors in Afghanistan rose to almost 74,000 by June 30, far outnumbering the roughly 58,000 U.S. soldiers on the ground at that point. As the military force in Afghanistan grows further, to a planned 68,000 by the end of the year, the Defense Department expects the ranks of contractors to increase more.
The ranks of military contractors in Afghanistan have been growing along with the surge in troops. Above, contractor barracks at the Kandahar airfield.
The military requires contractors for essential functions ranging from supplying food and laundry services to guarding convoys and even military bases -- functions that were once performed by military personnel but have been outsourced so a slimmed-down military can focus more on battle-related tasks.
The Obama administration has sought to reduce its reliance on military contractors, worried that the Pentagon was ceding too much power to outside companies, failing to rein in costs and not achieving desired results.
President Obama has repeatedly called defense contractors to task since taking office. "In Iraq, too much money has been paid out for services that were never performed, buildings that were never completed, companies that skimmed off the top," he said during a March speech.
In April, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced plans to hire 30,000 civilian officials during to cut the percentage of contractors in the Pentagon's own work force, and last month he told an audience of soldiers that contractor use overseas needed better controls.
Military contractors' personnel for a time outnumbered U.S. troops in Iraq. The large contractor force was accompanied by issues ranging from questionable costs billed to the government to shooting of civilians by armed security guards. A September 2007 shooting incident involving Blackwater Worldwide guards working for the U.S. State Department, in which 17 Iraqis were killed, forced the U.S. to aggressively rework oversight of security firms.
Yet in Afghanistan as in Iraq, the Pentagon has found that the military has shrunk so much since the Cold War ended that it isn't big enough to sustain operations without using companies to directly support military operations.
"Because of the surge, we're trying to get ahead of the troops," said Gary Motsek, Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Program Support, who helps oversee the Pentagon's battlefield contractor efforts. "So we're pushing contractors in place, doing it as fast as we can, and trying to be responsible about it."
The heavy reliance on contractors in Afghanistan signals that a situation that defense planners once considered temporary has become a standard fixture of U.S. military operations.
"For a sustained fight like our current commitments, the U.S. military can't go to war without contractors on the battlefield," said Steven Arnold, a former Army general and retired executive at logistics specialists Ecolog USA and KBR Inc. KBR was formerly owned by Halliburton Co. He added, "For that matter, neither can NATO."
That poses a challenge for military planners who must keep tabs on tens of thousands of people who are crucial to their operations yet are civilians outside the chain of command.
In Congress, there's a particular concern about security contractors who might upset diplomatic and military relationships. "We've had incidents when force has been used, we believe, improperly against citizens by contractors," said Sen. Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee. "This creates huge problems, obviously, for those who have been injured or killed and their families, but it also creates huge problems for us and our policies in Afghanistan."
In Iraq, as of June 30 there were 119,706 military contractors, down 10% from three months earlier and smaller than the number of U.S. troops, which stood at approximately 132,000. But as the Pentagon has been drawing down contractors in Iraq, their ranks have been growing in Afghanistan -- rising by 9% over that same three-month period to 73,968. More than two-thirds of those are local, which reflects the desire to employ Afghans as part of the counterinsurgency there.
Many contractors in Afghanistan are likely to face combat-like conditions, particularly those manning far-flung outposts, and are exposed to possible militant attacks -- blurring the line between soldier and support staff.
The reliance on contractors has prompted a shift in the defense industry, sending more money to logistics and construction companies that can perform everything from basic functions to project engineering.
A recent contract is worth up to $15 billion to two firms, DynCorp International Inc. and Fluor Corp., to build and support U.S. military bases throughout Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, government auditors have repeatedly uncovered military mismanagement of contractors. The Wartime Contracting Commission reported finding during an April trip that the military had accepted a new headquarters building in Kabul hobbled by shoddy construction. Officials in Iraq and Afghanistan were unable to give the commission complete lists of work being contracted out at the bases they visited.
Coordination of security contractors, one of the most charged issues in Iraq, is being beefed up for Afghanistan, said Mr. Motsek, the Pentagon official. A new umbrella contract planned for later this year is designed to make awarding work speedier and to help oversight and vetting.
As well, he said more Defense Department civilians are being sent to oversee all types of contracts, and they will stay longer overseas than their predecessors did in Iraq.
Video conferencing and other remote management tools had fallen short as a substitute. The Army is also adding hundreds of civilian contracting personnel, among the measures being put in place.
Despite Surge in U.S. Deployments, More Civilians Are Posted in War Zone
By August Cole
Global Research, November 22, 2009
Afghanistan Contractors Outnumber Troops
Wall Street Journal - 2009-08-22
Even as U.S. troops surge to new highs in Afghanistan they are outnumbered by military contractors working alongside them, according to a Defense Department census due to be distributed to Congress -- illustrating how hard it is for the U.S. to wean itself from the large numbers of war-zone contractors that proved controversial in Iraq.
The number of military contractors in Afghanistan rose to almost 74,000 by June 30, far outnumbering the roughly 58,000 U.S. soldiers on the ground at that point. As the military force in Afghanistan grows further, to a planned 68,000 by the end of the year, the Defense Department expects the ranks of contractors to increase more.
The ranks of military contractors in Afghanistan have been growing along with the surge in troops. Above, contractor barracks at the Kandahar airfield.
The military requires contractors for essential functions ranging from supplying food and laundry services to guarding convoys and even military bases -- functions that were once performed by military personnel but have been outsourced so a slimmed-down military can focus more on battle-related tasks.
The Obama administration has sought to reduce its reliance on military contractors, worried that the Pentagon was ceding too much power to outside companies, failing to rein in costs and not achieving desired results.
President Obama has repeatedly called defense contractors to task since taking office. "In Iraq, too much money has been paid out for services that were never performed, buildings that were never completed, companies that skimmed off the top," he said during a March speech.
In April, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced plans to hire 30,000 civilian officials during to cut the percentage of contractors in the Pentagon's own work force, and last month he told an audience of soldiers that contractor use overseas needed better controls.
Military contractors' personnel for a time outnumbered U.S. troops in Iraq. The large contractor force was accompanied by issues ranging from questionable costs billed to the government to shooting of civilians by armed security guards. A September 2007 shooting incident involving Blackwater Worldwide guards working for the U.S. State Department, in which 17 Iraqis were killed, forced the U.S. to aggressively rework oversight of security firms.
Yet in Afghanistan as in Iraq, the Pentagon has found that the military has shrunk so much since the Cold War ended that it isn't big enough to sustain operations without using companies to directly support military operations.
"Because of the surge, we're trying to get ahead of the troops," said Gary Motsek, Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Program Support, who helps oversee the Pentagon's battlefield contractor efforts. "So we're pushing contractors in place, doing it as fast as we can, and trying to be responsible about it."
The heavy reliance on contractors in Afghanistan signals that a situation that defense planners once considered temporary has become a standard fixture of U.S. military operations.
"For a sustained fight like our current commitments, the U.S. military can't go to war without contractors on the battlefield," said Steven Arnold, a former Army general and retired executive at logistics specialists Ecolog USA and KBR Inc. KBR was formerly owned by Halliburton Co. He added, "For that matter, neither can NATO."
That poses a challenge for military planners who must keep tabs on tens of thousands of people who are crucial to their operations yet are civilians outside the chain of command.
In Congress, there's a particular concern about security contractors who might upset diplomatic and military relationships. "We've had incidents when force has been used, we believe, improperly against citizens by contractors," said Sen. Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee. "This creates huge problems, obviously, for those who have been injured or killed and their families, but it also creates huge problems for us and our policies in Afghanistan."
In Iraq, as of June 30 there were 119,706 military contractors, down 10% from three months earlier and smaller than the number of U.S. troops, which stood at approximately 132,000. But as the Pentagon has been drawing down contractors in Iraq, their ranks have been growing in Afghanistan -- rising by 9% over that same three-month period to 73,968. More than two-thirds of those are local, which reflects the desire to employ Afghans as part of the counterinsurgency there.
Many contractors in Afghanistan are likely to face combat-like conditions, particularly those manning far-flung outposts, and are exposed to possible militant attacks -- blurring the line between soldier and support staff.
The reliance on contractors has prompted a shift in the defense industry, sending more money to logistics and construction companies that can perform everything from basic functions to project engineering.
A recent contract is worth up to $15 billion to two firms, DynCorp International Inc. and Fluor Corp., to build and support U.S. military bases throughout Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, government auditors have repeatedly uncovered military mismanagement of contractors. The Wartime Contracting Commission reported finding during an April trip that the military had accepted a new headquarters building in Kabul hobbled by shoddy construction. Officials in Iraq and Afghanistan were unable to give the commission complete lists of work being contracted out at the bases they visited.
Coordination of security contractors, one of the most charged issues in Iraq, is being beefed up for Afghanistan, said Mr. Motsek, the Pentagon official. A new umbrella contract planned for later this year is designed to make awarding work speedier and to help oversight and vetting.
As well, he said more Defense Department civilians are being sent to oversee all types of contracts, and they will stay longer overseas than their predecessors did in Iraq.
Video conferencing and other remote management tools had fallen short as a substitute. The Army is also adding hundreds of civilian contracting personnel, among the measures being put in place.
If you knew how smuggling is taking place..you would not saying this..
What happens is 'x' no of Containers are leaving Karachi but less than 'X' are making it to the Afghan border... some of the container are selling their stuff in Pakistan itself..you do not need impose tax on these container to stop the smuggling ..all you need to put is ID -tags and seals on these container to make sure they reach their destination and perhaps some less corrupt custom officials.
BATMAN
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^^ No it is beyond....... what you see is tip of the ice berg.
What is happening is some corrupt officials on both sides are reselling imported goods to private contractors... who in turn are reselling it in open market.
This off loading of trucks in Pakistan started since three years ago because Pakistan was taken over by corrupt regime. before all smuggling into Pakistan was routed through Afghanistan.
Their greed got them.
What is happening is some corrupt officials on both sides are reselling imported goods to private contractors... who in turn are reselling it in open market.
This off loading of trucks in Pakistan started since three years ago because Pakistan was taken over by corrupt regime. before all smuggling into Pakistan was routed through Afghanistan.
Their greed got them.
Spring Onion
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That was a criminal overlooking by our policy makers. They should have taken into consideration the damage roads are going get a toll on our economy and transportation
I still do not understand your point ..are you in favor of taxing these goods??..if you are, then how do you suppose 'it' will stop the smuggling??
BATMAN
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Von Hölle;1199438 said:
If imported goods and food supplies are taxed their will be no profit by reselling them in black market.
Smugglers will not have undue advantage over legal imports.
Since, Pakistan officially agreed for free transit only to NATO and US but all imports for domestic consumption shall pay full customs, tolls and royalties of passing through strategic lands.
I hope you have read in my posts above how Mr. President Obama is crying that those private contractors are cheating them and pocketing sacred money of American tax payers like thieves.
I wish govt. of Pakistan shall take step forward and play its due role in giving those anti-american contractors a taste of their own medicine.
Now discussing the issue of taxing US and NATO, which IMO has to be on fair bases... as long it was hidden under wraps it was fine, we Pakistanis wanted to help Americans even out of the way.
As Jana commented above and termed it as a criminal overlooking....that's her opinion and i respect but honestly.... i always supported free transit aid with objective to win the heart and mind of Americans and NATO nations.
Problem starts... when some self righteous journalist broke the story.....and trust me he did nothing unusual.... gold mine of free transit was so overflowing that it was difficult to hide.
I bet even the tea and sugar used in Pakistan president house and supreme court is smuggled in to Pakistan under the free transit facility awarded to NATO-US.
You may calculate the potential of this trade if you consider one country and one comodity.
start with sugar and 160million people 1kg/person/month @ 1/2$ profit/kg.
It is not a network of smuggling it is an authoritative enterprise.
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