News
Saturday, May 07, 2011
Key US lawmakers back assistance to Pakistan* House speaker says it’s not a time to back away from Pakistan
* Lugar says weaker relations will jeopardise US intelligence operations
WASHINGTON: Leaders of the US Congress voiced support on Thursday for preserving aid to Pakistan, calling for a clear-eyed view despite outrage that Osama Bin Laden lived for years in the allied nation.
Several lawmakers have accused Pakistan of playing a double-game and questioned billions of dollars in US aid after the world’s most wanted man was killed in a safe house a short drive from the country’s top military academy. However, House Speaker John Boehner, the third highest-ranking US leader and top Republican, said that the US and Pakistan needed to maintain cooperation, striking a rare note of agreement with President Barack Obama. “It is not a time to back away from Pakistan, it is time for more engagement with them, not less,” Boehner told reporters. “Frankly, I believe our aid should continue to Pakistan,” he added.
The US has given around $18 billion to Pakistan since the 9/11 attacks, when the nuclear-armed nation officially ended support of the Taliban and agreed to work with the US. While most of the money has gone to the military, the Congress in 2009 authorised $7.5 billion over five years to help bolster the weak civilian government by building schools, roads and democratic institutions.
Two of the bill’s authors, Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar, voiced deep concern at the possibility that Pakistan protected Bin Laden, but said they would wait for a probe.
“Nothing obviously would excuse the harbouring of the number one criminal in the world, but we need to explore carefully exactly what the facts are,” said Kerry, a close ally of Obama and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman.
Kerry said at a Senate hearing that the US needed Pakistan’s assistance to pursue terrorists in the future and to supply the 100,000 US troops stationed in Afghanistan.
“It is undeniable that our relationship with Pakistan has helped us pursue our security goals,” Kerry said. Lugar, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that weaker relations would jeopardise US intelligence operations and reduce US leverage in encouraging better ties between Pakistan and India.
“Distancing ourselves from Pakistan would be unwise and extremely dangerous,” Lugar added.
But Representative Howard Berman, the other co-author of the 2009 aid bill, said in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that he had “deep and ongoing concerns” about security assistance to Pakistan.
While praising Pakistan’s offensive against homegrown Taliban, the Democratic lawmaker said he was “deeply troubled” by Pakistan’s contacts with other terrorist movements, including the Afghan Taliban.
In a new revelation, Berman said Pakistan allegedly diverted US-supplied MI-17 helicopters to use in UN operations in Sudan. Berman said he supported Pakistan’s participation in peacekeeping, but that the shift of equipment from anti-insurgency operations would be a “blatant violation” of agreements. afp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk