Pakistan says last payment from US for fighting Taliban delayed

[S-2]

I appreciate Energon's comments. They point to our aid as a bonus.

The righteous stance would be to tell us to go screw ourselves and our accountants. The money's not important as reimbursement and doesn't remotely reflect your true costs anyway.

Then you could start afresh. A time-out, if you will.

I'm sure everybody else will wait while you catch your breath.

Now, personally, I believe that all nations bear the responsibility and costs for their self-defense. It's ludicrous to expect others to do so and defies the logic behind "self-defense". The question is whether you believe that your nation is under attack from within or not.

I find this a distractor. I'm sure that the money will be paid. I've no doubt that we're reminded as much constantly. I think that it's a bad policy to demand reimbursement. Such connotes a freely-entered agreement for an exchange of goods and services for payment (possibly at some profit).

That conveys an awful message to your population which suggests that you've a choice here and elect to assist us when they'd clearly prefer that Pakistan NOT do so, particularly at a loss far in excess of your reimbursement.

Here's a thought-why don't you tell your nation that you're at war. Really at war. Draft next. Mobilization. Tell them who you've determined is your enemy and where. Then tell them what you intend doing. Tell them that you hope your allies will assist in every way possible to include sending money, equipment, advisors and trainers-as AID.

But we're going to be sorta rough on FATA and NWFP/Baluchistan for awhile.

Boy! Won't that go over well?

How about you settle down and let the accountants do their book-keeping thingy? It'll get worked out and, until then, console yourselves that you've spent money on saintly deeds and public "clean-up" projects inside your community.

For the most part, those rupees stayed home.

 

[roadrunner]

Expect more delayed bills, as the auto industry keels over next.

The war is unsustainable.

 

[Neo]

Pakistan Says It Needs Marshall Plan to Fight Taliban ​

Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan needs a modern day “Marshall Plan” to help it fight Taliban militants through economic development, President Asif Ali Zardari said, referring to the U.S. aid plan for Europe after World War II.

The northwestern tribal areas bordering Afghanistan need a “massive program” to boost education and employment, the official Associated Press of Pakistan cited Zardari as saying yesterday in Islamabad.

About half of the country’s more than 170 million people are under the age of 25 and their frustration with the current economic situation is a breeding ground for social unrest and militancy, APP cited him as saying.

Zardari is facing pressure from the Obama administration to step up the fight against Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters that U.S. intelligence agencies say are sheltering in Pakistan’s tribal zone. The government in Islamabad says it is doing all it can to combat the guerrillas through selective military force and political and economic programs.

Authorities this week signed a peace accord that will see Islamic law declared in the Swat Valley, 250 kilometers (155 miles) northeast of Islamabad, in return for militants laying down their arms.

A pro-Taliban party that agreed to the truce held a march in the valley yesterday as it tried to persuade militants to accept the agreement. A Pakistani television journalist was shot dead after covering the march and Zardari pledged to bring the assailants to justice, APP reported.

Talks With Karzai

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who was scheduled to hold talks today with Zardari in Islamabad, postponed the visit due to bad weather, the Foreign Ministry in Kabul said. No new date has been fixed, ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen said.

The nations are trying to improve ties strained by the Karzai administration’s accusations that Pakistani security agencies under former president and army chief Pervez Musharraf backed the Taliban insurgency. Pakistan denies the allegations.

Karzai attended Zardari’s swearing-in ceremony in September after Musharraf’s resignation.

The Pakistani president’s call for increased international aid came after his government this week said it is seeking a $4.5 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, taking its borrowing from the IMF to more than $12 billion since November.

Economic Growth

Inflation in South Asia’s second-biggest economy stood at 20.52 percent in January and the benchmark interest rate stands at 15 percent. Higher borrowing costs have dented growth in the $144 billion economy, which is forecast by the government to expand at the slowest pace in seven years after growing an average 6.8 percent in the past five years.

The Bush administration, which regarded Musharraf as a key ally in its “war on terror,” pledged $3 billion in economic and military aid to Pakistan for 2005-2009.

President Barack Obama is reviewing U.S. strategy for combating the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan and is pressing Pakistan to do more to root out militants.

The European Commission has allocated 200 million euros ($251 million) to boost rural development and education, largely in North West Frontier Province and Baluchistan province, for 2007 to 2010.

 

[Keysersoze]

Can't argue with the above......I have always advocated education as a way of winning this. Every wonder the Taliban keep destroying schools?

 

[Flintlock]

So is it 'to get at its own countrymen' or 'get at terrorists'?

You Indians have to make up your minds - this playing both sides idea isn't going to get you by for long...

Your own countrymen are the terrorists...

 

[third eye]

So is it 'to get at its own countrymen' or 'get at terrorists'?

You Indians have to make up your minds - this playing both sides idea isn't going to get you by for long...

Wonder if its been noticed, India appears to have made up its mind- its India first, always & every time.

India has learnt relevant lessons from Pak running with the hare & hunting with the hound in its Afghan policy.

... and, India does not charge anyone for getting at terrorists in India. If it did Pak would be high on the " sundry debtosrs list".

 

[ejaz007]

Would this mean that the PA is charging the US ( or being paid by the US) to get at its own countrymen ?

These are the payments related to the use of Pakistani facilitites for logistics in WOT.

I guess one needs brains to know that.

 

[ejaz007]

‘Coalition support arrears for war on terror have reached $1.5bn’

By Sajid Chaudhry

ISLAMABAD: Arrears of coalition support for the war on terror have increased to $1.5 billion since May 2008, Finance Adviser Shaukat Tareen said on Thursday.

“We have asked them to at least release $100 million per month and scrutinise the remaining claim of $50 million for subsequent disbursement and they have termed it as a good suggestion,” he told reporters after inaugurating a one-day workshop on the Medium Term Budget Framework (MTBF).

He said that Pakistan would forward its formal request for additional $4.5 billion to bridge the financing gap owing to losses of the war on terror to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) authorities at the IMF-World Bank annual meeting in April.

Responding to a question on the IMF review of Pakistan’s economy underway in Dubai, he said that review is going well and there would be positive a outcome.

To a question on the waiver on the revenue collection target, the adviser admitted Pakistan would seek such waivers in future too, as revenue collection in the first half of the fiscal year had seen a shortfall of Rs 23 billion. The target for January was Rs 101 billion, he said, and the government hoped Rs 80 billion would be collected.

The adviser said he was not aware of any demand by the Federal Board of Revenue for property tax collection, and said the country needed an increase in the tax-to-GDP ratio at 15 percent in medium term. Elimination of all tax exemptions except in food and life-saving drugs was also required, he added. Tareen said the depreciation of Pakistani rupee was the main reason behind the high prices of petroleum products.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[third eye]

These are the payments related to the use of Pakistani facilitites for logistics in WOT.

I guess one needs brains to know that.

Refrain from pers remarks.

Reconclie with post # 6.

 

[ejaz007]

Punjab orders closure of NATO depot in Attock
Staff Report

LAHORE: The Punjab government has ordered the removal of NATO logistics stored by a private company in Attock district, provincial Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Thursday.

The minister said it was a matter of great concern for the locals that NATO logistics were being stored at a building along Fateh Jahan Road, Attock. He said that it was a sensitive area because there were important installations there.

He said that he had already brought the matter to the notice of the House, but no action had so far been taken.

Another MPA from Attock said NATO logistics in Punjab could serve as a trigger for Taliban attacks in the province.

Sanaullah said it was not a depot of weapons. He said that according to an inquiry report, a private company was using 12 acres of land as a stopover for trucks carrying NATO food and fuel supplies.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[ejaz007]

Refrain from pers remarks.

Reconclie with post # 6.

Those are one members personal views.

What we are charging is for air, land and sea route and facilities being used. Government is being paid and PA is not in any case involved.

What the member perhaps meant to say was that the we are not providing free of cost access to Afghanistan which is not some thing unusual. They are using our land, air and sea and should pay us.

 

[XYON]

Your own countrymen are the terrorists...

Yeah! and kids in your country are getting married to dogs to save the village from Tigers! Whose the more dangerous and super illiterate kook here?

 

[XYON]

‘Coalition support arrears for war on terror have reached $1.5bn’

By Sajid Chaudhry

ISLAMABAD: Arrears of coalition support for the war on terror have increased to $1.5 billion since May 2008, Finance Adviser Shaukat Tareen said on Thursday.

“We have asked them to at least release $100 million per month and scrutinise the remaining claim of $50 million for subsequent disbursement and they have termed it as a good suggestion,” he told reporters after inaugurating a one-day workshop on the Medium Term Budget Framework (MTBF).

He said that Pakistan would forward its formal request for additional $4.5 billion to bridge the financing gap owing to losses of the war on terror to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) authorities at the IMF-World Bank annual meeting in April.

Responding to a question on the IMF review of Pakistan’s economy underway in Dubai, he said that review is going well and there would be positive a outcome.

To a question on the waiver on the revenue collection target, the adviser admitted Pakistan would seek such waivers in future too, as revenue collection in the first half of the fiscal year had seen a shortfall of Rs 23 billion. The target for January was Rs 101 billion, he said, and the government hoped Rs 80 billion would be collected.

The adviser said he was not aware of any demand by the Federal Board of Revenue for property tax collection, and said the country needed an increase in the tax-to-GDP ratio at 15 percent in medium term. Elimination of all tax exemptions except in food and life-saving drugs was also required, he added. Tareen said the depreciation of Pakistani rupee was the main reason behind the high prices of petroleum products.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

As the saying goes, maybe the Cheque is in the mail?

 

[Bull]

We are talking about the payment for our ammunition and fuel used in AMERICAN WAR ON TERROR. Which once again the cheating Americans are not willing to pay.

Read this. Its clearly mentioned they are asking money for flushing out militants and not for logistics as you falsely claim.

Shaukat Tarin, the financial advisor to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, said Pakistan's latest reimbursement bill of 1.35 billion dollars for flushing out militants from the tribal region in the north-west of the country, was delayed.

 

[Bull]

hmmm.... so if we can't afford it in the absence of external support, should we stop fighting them?

Pakistan has limited resources after all, so if we can't cover the costs of the WoT, what should be done?

WoT has become a american brand. Even using that in our local context makes one feel as if they are fighting for the americans.

Militants in NWFP is your problem first and then anybody else. If you wont fight them because you didnt get funds from US, it will cost you dearly.

Why do you laywas link yourself to US when it comes to fight your war, i guess thats the biggest flw. Take out US from the equation ateast in such press statements.