U.S. hails "strong ally" Pakistan, gives new aid

[Neo]

U.S. hails "strong ally" Pakistan, gives new aid
By Robert Birsel

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan under President Pervez Musharraf is a very strong ally in the war on terrorism, a U.S. official said on Thursday while announcing a $750 million aid package for Pakistan's Afghan border areas.

The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Richard Boucher, said the United States aimed to give Pakistan the new aid over five years for the development of its tribal areas on the Afghan border, where al Qaeda and Taliban operate.

Boucher's visit to Pakistan came after speculation in the U.S. media of growing frustration with Musharraf's inability to stem a tide of militants crossing to fight U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan, or to tackle al Qaeda camps in border areas.

It also follows a move by the U.S. House of Representatives to link aid to Pakistan to progress in battling militancy. But Boucher said the administration strongly opposed that legislation and he thought it would not be passed.

Boucher also said the United States would be closely watching a crisis that erupted last week when Musharraf moved to sack the country's top judge, sparking a wave of protests by lawyers and opposition supporters.

"President Musharraf has been a very strong ally. Pakistan has been a very strong ally with President Musharraf as leader," Boucher told a news conference at the well-guarded U.S. embassy.

But Boucher also appeared to echo a call from other U.S. officials who have visited recently, including Vice President Dick Cheney, for Pakistan to do more to crack down on Taliban and al Qaeda on its soil.

"We support Pakistan, we work with Pakistan, we all want to do more, we all want to be more effective in the war on terror," he said.

The impoverished, semi-autonomous tribal areas on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan have been a base for al Qaeda and Taliban operations since 2001, when many militants fled there after the U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Boucher said the new aid package needed the approval of the U.S. Congress but another U.S. official said that was expected.

DEAL NOT WORKING

Despite Pakistani military efforts to clear out foreign militants, subdue their Pakistani allies and seal the border, the Taliban have been using the border lands as a springboard for attacks into Afghanistan, where the United States has 27,000 troops.

Boucher said a peace deal Pakistan struck in the North Waziristan region in September aimed at ending violence and cross-border raids was not working.

"At this point, the political deal in Waziristan has not stopped the militancy. Unfortunately, it has not stopped the bombings against Pakistani civilians, it hasn't stopped the cross-border activity," he said.

Referring to the political crisis over the government's move last Friday to sack the country's top judge, Boucher said: "We do think this is a matter that needs to work its way through the Pakistani system."

"We understand the sensitivity of accusations involving judicial figures, it's a sensitive matter ...I've asked a lot of questions. We'll watch closely as it works its way through."

The proposed U.S. legislation aimed at linking aid to action on militancy has raised alarm in Pakistan, which saw similar restrictions on U.S. help in the 1990s over its nuclear program.

Boucher said the House of Representatives and the Senate had to get together to figure out the final form of the legislation.

"I'm fairly confident that we will not see something from the U.S. Congress that will undermine our relationship," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070315/pl_nm/pakistan_usa_dc_2

 

[Neo]

US to give Pakistan 750 mln dlrs for tribal areas
by Danny Kemp

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - The United States is to give Pakistan 750 million dollars over five years to develop its troubled tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, a senior US official said Thursday.

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher announced the funding after holding talks with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, a lynchpin in the US-led "war on terror."

Washington and other Western allies have expressed concern about the regrouping of Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants in Pakistan's impoverished tribal belt and about peace deals between the government and rebels.

"I am pleased to announce I was able to confirm to the government of Pakistan that we will be providing 750 million dollars over five years to support the tribal area development strategy," Boucher told reporters.

"This commitment to the development of Pakistan, this commitment to the long-term relationship, is another example of the very broad and deep relationship we have," he added.

The administration of US President George W. Bush will seek the approval of Congress for the aid, Boucher said.

"This is a good plan, a comprehensive plan to provide economic development, education and other opportunities to the people who live in the border regions of Pakistan, the tribal areas in particular," he added.

The Pentagon was also asking the US Congress for 75 million dollars to upgrade the Frontier Corps, Pakistan's paramilitary border force that has borne the brunt of the fight against militants, he said.

Pakistan launched military operations in 2003 to clear the tribal areas of hundreds of Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who fled Afghanistan after the fall of the ultra-Islamic Taliban regime in late 2001.

But after the deaths of hundreds of soldiers and around 1,000 militants it signed peace deals with tribal elders and insurgents in Waziristan. US officials in Afghanistan say attacks on foreign forces have since increased.

US Vice President Dick Cheney paid a surprise visit to Musharraf last month during which he urged him to crack down on militant safe-havens in the tribal areas, saying that the Taliban and Al-Qaeda were regrouping there.

Boucher however defended Musharraf's performance.

"President Musharraf has been a very strong ally, Pakistan has been a very strong ally... we work closely with President Musharraf and the Pakistan government because we have common interest," he said.

The US official, who arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday from Kabul, was cooler on Pakistan's plans to fence part of the border with Afghanistan to stop the movement of militants. Afghan officials have rejected the move.

"Militarily, fencing may have a role, that is something that is best worked out in a common discussion. We hope that discussions will take place -- we can help with that," Boucher said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070315/pl_afp/pakistanafghanistanus_070315144330

 

[Neo]

This is probably the best dicision Bush administration has made sofar regarding the tribal area's issue.

Economic uplift, elimination of poverty and access to education for all are the key elements to a long lasting peace in the region.

How does it go with the Dems? They should atleast support this plan.

 

[Adux]

So we are off US bashing for now..i think

 

[Neo]

US isn't a true ally of Pakistan, I wonder if it ever was...
We're not bashing US here but simply portraying it in its true colors.

Read the article I posted here some time ago called 'Bashing Pakistan' by one of Pakistan's top defence analysts and you'll understand our sentiment about Washington.

 

[Neo]

Here's the article, excellent read!

Stop Pakistan Bashing
By Dr. Shireen M. Mazari

It seems that Pakistan’s strange tolerance of abuse heaped on it from external sources continues to make it a favorite whipping boy for all and sundry. The US, in its growing frustration in Afghanistan and its erroneous policy of sidelining the Pushtuns, continues to face armed challenge in that country. As the challenge continues from a new coalescing of Pushtuns of various hues, Pakistan is accused baselessly of harboring or lending support to the so-called terrorists. This accusation ignores the massive help Pakistan has given to the US at multiple levels, which has allowed the latter to capture many of the al-Qaeda members.

Instead, what has the US done in relation to Pakistan? It continues to call on Pakistan to “do more” for the war on terrorism, but allows India to have access to state-of-the-art weapon systems that directly destabilize the strategic balance in South Asia. It constantly pressurizes Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir and the so-called “cross-border infiltrations” but it refuses to ask India why it is so loathe to have international observers along the LoC for monitoring purposes to establish the veracity or otherwise of Indian accusations against Pakistan. The State Department and US NGOs are quick to condemn human rights abuses in Pakistan by non-state actors, but there is a strange silence on the Gujarat massacres in which the Modi government has been found culpable.

The latest example of the US policy in South Asia has come from Ms Christina Rocca on her visit to India where she obviously was vulnerable to Indian charms and made an unwarranted remark, once again attacking Pakistan on the LoC infiltration issue. Why she felt the need to do so in India can only be conjectured, but her silence on Gujarat - rather her efforts to defend the Modi government earlier on 20 March 2003, before the US House of Representatives International Relations Committee - was revealing of the great level of tolerance the US has for Indian abuse of human rights and other shenanigans. Perhaps the Indian Supreme Court’s strong censure of the Modi government may awaken a greater sense of fair play in Ms Rocca. But then Condoleeza Rice also defended the record of the BJP government when she was asked by the Indian newspaper The Hindu why the US had “not been more forthcoming in its criticism” of the Gujarat massacre. Her response was that the BJP government was “leading India well, and it will do the right thing.”

Nor is this all the affront Pakistan has to suffer while it acts as a frontline state once again for the US - this time in its war on terrorism. US intelligence documents, produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), declassified in a censored version last week, accuse Pakistan of helping al-Qaeda in the early nineties. In fact, they try to delink Pakistan from the ISI and accuse the latter of helping al-Qaeda! As one Afghan watcher, Maulana Tahir Ashrafi, told AFP, this report is “hilarious”. According to him “when the jihad was going on (against the Soviets), US airlines used to offer 50 percent rebate to Arabs who would volunteer to participate in the anti-Soviet war in Afghanistan.” The US obviously feels that it can whitewash its own role in the encouragement of bin Laden and the Taliban by simply lashing out at Pakistan once again and the ISI in particular because these are easy targets - given our penchant for accepting abuse from outsiders with a totally inexplicable equanimity. It would be far more useful for the US to come clean on its own role in the creation and support of bin Laden’s network and the Taliban’s rise to power. After all, Mr. Khalilzad himself was negotiating with the Taliban on behalf of UNOCOL (which, according to some sources, was provided the relevant data by the CIA) on the pipeline issue at one time when the US saw nothing drastically wrong with the Taliban.

Nor is this all the abuse being heaped on Pakistan by the US and some of its allies. Individual Pakistanis are constantly being accused of clandestine weapons and spares purchases and often the Pakistan government is accused of being an abettor in such transactions. Yet, there is no censure of India despite the fact that India was in league with the Saddam regime for years in terms of scientific cooperation. Nor has the US made a noise about the FBI’s capture of a group of Indians, led by Hemant Lakhani, who were selling 50 shoulder-held Russian surface-to-air missiles - the Igla - to be used against a commercial airliner. Imagine how the American and European press would have gone to town if this group of arms merchants were Muslims - especially Pakistani!

Connections would have been made to officialdom and the state of Pakistan would have somehow been found guilty and censured! But because Mr. Lakhani happens to be Indian, there is an acceptable degree of silence on this count.

Worse still, as Iran’s nuclear program has come under international scrutiny, once again Pakistan is being targeted as a supplier of uranium enrichment technology to Tehran! This is truly absurd since the CIA itself, in a report to Congress last year, named Russia, China, North Korea and Europe as the mainstay of Iran’s nuclear development. Pakistan, during the period in question, was having an extremely troubled relationship with Iran. But Pakistan’s big neighbor and the US’s strategic ally, India was developing extremely cooperative relations with Iran on all fronts. And we need to remember that India and Russia have a long history of nuclear and missile cooperation - and that Russia has been the main developer of Iran and North Korea’s nuclear programs. In any event, India has a pilot enrichment plant at Trombay as well as an uranium enrichment facility at Mysore - both based on gas centrifuge technology. India also has an agreement with Iran for collaboration in the field of science and technology. In fact, in the early 90s there were rumors that India had also offered to give Iran a Candu type reactor. So if any state could have helped Iran on uranium enrichment, the evidence points to India. But can the US muster the will to challenge India on this count, instead of, as usual, targeting Pakistan.

Of course, Iran would not have become a party to the NPT if it had nuclear weapons ambitions to start off with - after all, when Ayatollah Khomeini took power in Iran, his government cancelled a number of contracts for nuclear reactors and rolled back on Iran’s nuclear program. So what has driven the Iranian state to change this policy - if it has changed? Also, if Iran is going the uranium enrichment route, it could also acquire the basic knowledge from open publications such as a 1983 SIPRI publication on uranium enrichment and nuclear weapons proliferation which had detailed information and pictures as well. Perhaps it is time the IAEA became true to its own agenda and seriously examined the Israeli nuclear program which has no checks on it. The revelations would make for interesting reading - especially within the context of states that helped Israel acquire its clandestine nuclear capability.

As for Pakistan, it is time to be more aggressive in countering all manner of absurd allegations leveled against the state. As has been stated earlier in these columns, enough is enough. If we are to be allies in the war on terrorism, there must be an end to accusations and suspicions. Otherwise, it may be time to hold back. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain - especially our sense of national dignity. We are no more or less responsible for the ills of the world today than other states - and certainly not as guilty as the major players, both regionally and globally. As for asserting our national dignity - this is essential if we are to function effectively within the comity of nations today.


(The writer is Director General of the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad)

http://www.pakistanlink.com/Letters/2003/sept03/26/02.html

 

[Adux]

I am sorry but i Think article you have posted is not a broad view, but just a pakistani view and it looks at only point of view. US government didnt allow Narendra Modi to travel to US. Wonder why Its just twisting facts, to show Pakistan as some kind of poor bunny taken for a ride by the big bad wolf US.

One Person of Indian Orgin sources Weapon from Russia and sells them, Neo with all due respect the sheer amount of groups active in Pakistan is just crazy, You get one Indian, and you expect everybody to say what.?

Its just a stupid article. Propaganda if you ask me

 

[kidwaibhai]

I am sorry but i Think article you have posted is not a broad view, but just a pakistani view and it looks at only point of view. US government didnt allow Narendra Modi to travel to US. Wonder why Its just twisting facts, to show Pakistan as some kind of poor bunny taken for a ride by the big bad wolf US.

One Person of Indian Orgin sources Weapon from Russia and sells them, Neo with all due respect the sheer amount of groups active in Pakistan is just crazy, You get one Indian, and you expect everybody to say what.?

Its just a stupid article. Propaganda if you ask me

oh really!!. I think this is a very accurate interpretation of the current situation. But i do think that she does get a little to much doom and gloom for me.

 

[Adux]

oh really!!. I think this is a very accurate interpretation of the current situation. But i do think that she does get a little to much doom and gloom for me.

Accurate yes in some cases, but only looking at from one side of the coin, conviently forgetting their part in the game; from a very very pakistani prespective and for your audience.
Lets take the example of the Gujurat Riots, she says US didnt say anything, That is wrong, US did not let the Chief Minister of Gujarat enter its Soil. Isnt that enough, and spelt out the reason why they didnt let him in too. So she is wrong there.

This is propaganda at its best for me.

 

[kidwaibhai]

oh cmon dude this is not propaganda i think that is really going to far isnt it