US plans to triple non-security aid to Pakistan in new strategy

[Neo]

US plans to triple non-security aid to Pakistan in new strategy​

by P. Parameswaran
Thu Jun 26, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States is considering a new aid strategy for Pakistan that will triple unconditional non-security aid to 1.5 billion dollars annually but tie security funding to counterrorism performance, lawmakers said.

In coming weeks, bipartisan legislation will be introduced in the US Senate laying the foundation for the new approach, senior Democratic Senator Joseph Biden said Wednesday.

Biden, who chaired a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the new strategy, proposed that the central elements of the new plan include tripling non-security aid to 1.5 billion dollars annually over a 10-year period.

"A significant increase in non-security aid, guaranteed for a long period, would help persuade the Pakistani populace that America is not a fair-weather friend but an all-weather friend; it would also help persuade Pakistan's leaders that America is a reliable ally," he said.

But Biden, in a controversial move, also wanted US security aid -- around one billion dollars annually at present -- to be tied to results.

This, he said, would "push the Pakistani military to finally crush" the Al-Qaeda and Taliban militant groups believed based along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

"It's not clear we're getting our money's worth. We should be willing to spend more if we get better returns -- and less if we don't," he said.

Biden said that the US-Pakistan relationship was in "desperate need of a serious overhaul" and that the status quo is "unsustainable."

The United States provided Pakistan more than 10.5 billion dollars for military, economic, and development activities in the 2002-2007 period.

Ranking Republican Senator Richard Lugar said Biden's proposal for dramatic adjustments to US foreign assistance to Pakistan had given the committee "an important model for discussion.

"We should carefully reconsider both the amounts that we are providing and the goals we are hoping to achieve in Pakistan," Lugar said.

President George W. Bush's administration has given general support to the plan.

"While we do not agree on every point in the current version of the proposed legislation, we welcome this initiative and feel strongly that a new, bipartisan commitment to partnership with Pakistan is crucial," said Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher.

"We look forward to working closely with this committee to see this initiative through," he said.

The elements of Biden's plan "are vital but they may be reconfigured in the final legislation," one congressional aide said.

The Pentagon cautioned that any strategy change in military aid should not come at the expense of Pakistan's legitimate defense needs, opposing any "conditional language" on security assistance.

"Doing so undermines the trust relationship with Pakistan at a time when it is most critical," cautioned Mitchell Shivers, the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense.

But Biden said the performance of the Pakistan military has been mixed.

"We've caught more terrorists in Pakistan than in any other country but Pakistan remains the central base of Al-Qaeda operations."

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), an independent US government watchdog, had called for a coherent plan to stem any terrorist threat coming from Pakistan.

It particularly referred to the vast, impoverished, mountainous and unpoliced Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), seen as a key sanctuary for top terrorists who masterminded the Sept 11, 2001 attacks.

Wendy Chamberlin, president of the Washington-based Middle East Institute, said any legislation tying security aid to performance would not be easy.

"Historically, Pakistan viewed conditioned aid as a colonial practice that belittles the recipient," she said.

US plans to triple non-security aid to Pakistan in new strategy - Yahoo! News

 

[Neo]

Biden proposes $1.5M to Pakistan in aid ​

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Democratic senator on Wednesday proposed tripling non-military aid to Pakistan to $1.5 billion a year, while restricting money intended for anti-terrorism operations.

Sen. Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the U.S. has too little to show for the billions spent reimbursing Islamabad to go after terrorists along its troubled Afghan border.

A recent independent audit concluded the U.S. has little proof that the $5.6 billion given to Pakistan to go after terrorists since 2001 has been used for that purpose. At the same time, Biden said, not enough is being done to build schools, hospital clinics and roads in the border region, where extremists have found refuge.

"We believe we're paying too much and getting too little. The Pakistanis believe exactly the opposite," said Biden, D-Del.

"Both sides feel that the costs of the relationship may soon outweigh the benefits" he added. "The status quo is unsustainable."

Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said the administration was open to considering Biden's approach.

"While we do not agree on every point in the current version of the proposed legislation, we welcome this initiative and feel strongly that a new, bipartisan commitment to partnership with Pakistan is crucial," Boucher told the committee.

Boucher testified on the heels of a Government Accountability Office study that found, for example, that the U.S. recently gave Pakistan more than $200 million for air defense radars without bothering to investigate whether the money was needed specifically to go after terrorists.

The U.S. has given Pakistan a total of $10.8 billion in economic and military aid since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

U.S. officials have responded that better controls over military reimbursement payments are needed. But, they add, the value of the aid program should not be underestimated because many terrorists have been captured or killed with Pakistan's help.

Boucher told the committee Wednesday that he sees promise in a forthcoming anti-terrorism agreement among Pakistan's political and military leaders.

The agreement, expected to be announced shortly by Pakistan's prime minister, should make clear that Islamabad plans only to negotiate with tribal leaders along the Afghan border and not with the militants, Boucher said.

Pakistan's leaders have said in the past this was their policy, but some have negotiated directly with insurgents — an approach that resulted in an increase in violence and cross-border attacks into Afghanistan, according to Boucher.

"Certainly the approach of saying, 'We will work with the tribes to kick out the terrorists' is a better approach than going directly to negotiate with militants," Boucher later added. "And that seems to be the approach they are adopting, not one that they have implemented successfully yet."

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Biden proposes $1.5M to Pakistan in aid - USATODAY.com

 

[maqsad]

I love how they squint at 5.6 billion as if it is some backbreaking figure when the US military alone probably spends that much in Iraq and Afghanistan in less than one week.

And on top of that much of this is reimbursement for supplies and logistic support which has to do with the US/Afghan disaster, not FATA. But at least now they are "donating" more to peace than to war in pakistan, who knows for once by some miracle the tards in DC are doing the right thing.

 

[khanz]

better late than never !

 

[HAIDER]

Obviously When soldier see his 1,200 comrades down war, where acting as mercenaries. That would be reaction among fellow soldiers. Nothing enough for us. More need to be done.

 

[kidwaibhai]

this is good omen. i saw the hearings that the senators lugar and biden held on this aid package. i think that they are really trying to establish a longterm relationship with pakistan . the sensationalism of doom and gloom when it comes to pakistan is now changing and they are slowly realizing that this is a complex country and efforts need to be made so that they have long term relationship with us. by the way i heard the hearings on C-Span

 

[HAIDER]

After watching NATO commander in Afghanistan interviewed on TV, i personally realize that Pakistan can't control the border alone. Plus Commander admit its more issue of culture. And issue need to be resolved though their own tradition and culture.
But he said we reserve the right to fire back, if someone fire on us. Rules of engagements.

 

[Interceptor]

Its Bribe money, and they are doing it again.

Sen. Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the U.S. has too little to show for the billions spent reimbursing Islamabad to go after terrorists along its troubled Afghan border.

And it looks like they are finally coming to understand that it is more important to have the backing of the locals than that of the warlords.

A recent independent audit concluded the U.S. has little proof that the $5.6 billion given to Pakistan to go after terrorists since 2001 has been used for that purpose. At the same time, Biden said, not enough is being done to build schools, hospital clinics and roads in the border region, where extremists have found refuge.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

I agree with this approach.

The US relationship with Paksitan, and many other Muslsim nations in the Middle East, has been built with dictators and autocrats, and alienated the populations of those regions. By working with democratic governments, and investing in civil projects, the traditional US relationship with the military alone will hopefully move into a more longterm one with the Pakistani nation as a whole.

Such aid may also dampen the impact of a violent reprisal from the Taliban and AQ militants, such as the one last year, if the GoP decides to act against all the parties that refuse to lay down their arms, which it should

This doesn't mean that development should not take place in FATA as part of a comprehensive policy to stop the Taliban, but the truth is that the Taliban do not care a hoot for development, and they will fight till the end, regardless of local support, and plenty of damage will be inflicted in FATA and elsewhere. Aid such as this may well be the difference between the Pakistani economy surviving the militant onslaught or collapsing.

 

[Neo]

$1.5 billion non military assistance per annum isn't going to undo all the damage and loss we've suffered for siding with USA; the price we've paid for being a front line ally in WoT is probably much higher.

Nevertheless its a step in right direction as long as it benefits the comon man.

 

[Awesome]

I don't like it.

It's going to be used against us.

They'll give this to us and they'd want us to start attacking locals. We need to be coming out of this war, and we're making new committments to people who are also employed to kill our people.

I personally would say no deal to this. This 1.5 billion is costing us a handful in lives.

 

[roadrunner]

Pakistan should reject it. But of course GoP will do anything for money with the suction pump now leading the country.

Indeed Pakistan's political leaders don't learn

 

[maqsad]

So say no to civilian aid but say yes to military aid that goes towards importing second rate surplus sanction-prone weaponry?

 

[mujahideen]

This aid is not worth it. We want aid with no strings attached.

 

[IceCold]

Most of this tripling aid will go to the US themselves, and of whats left will reach Pakistan and that too with strings attached and inreturn they will expect us to sideline the difference between a terrorist and a tribal Pakistani and attack them all.
Why am i not surprised over this afterall Democratics are in place, one can expect such things to happen. We might even have to say goodbye to those F-16s of ours.