Congress Freezes $700 Million In Aid For Pakistan...

[paulitician]

A US Congressional panel froze $700 million in aid to Pakistan until the country gives assurances it is joining the fight against the spread of homemade bombs in the region, Reuters reported.

The latest move by the United States may only further hurt ties with Pakistan and contribute to the growing sense of anti-Americanism in the population, a senior Pakistani official told NBC News. The relationship between the two counties suffered greatly in May when US forces killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

The cutback in aid shows the United States’ frustration over what it sees as Islamabad’s reluctance to act against militant groups, the BBC reported. Pakistan is one of the largest recipients of US foreign aid. The cutback announced by Congress on Tuesday is only a small portion of the billions in civil and military assistance the country receives each year, Reuters reported.

Still, the freeze in aid, which is a part of a defense bill expected to be passed by Congress later this week, could cause further cuts, the BBC reported. The US has given about $20 billion in security and economic aid to Pakistan since 2001, mostly in the form of reimbursements for assistance in fighting militants. Congress says Islamabad has not only failed to act against the militant groups, it has actively provided help to them in some cases, the BBC reported.

Read More:
US Congress freezes $700 million in aid for Pakistan
DRUDGE REPORT 2012®

 

[Caroljo]

About time....i didn't think anything was ever going to be done! There's a few more countries we need to cut off too.

 

[waltky]

Zardari on the ropes?...

Power struggle could further destabilize Pakistan
Friday, December 30, 2011 — Pakistan's powerful army wants President Asif Ali Zardari gone, but it has ruled out staging a coup, and instead is hoping for a legal ruling that could lead to Zardari's impeachment by the country's parliament, analysts and military insiders say.

Zardari suffered a setback Friday when Pakistan's Supreme Court set up a judicial commission to investigate an alleged request by his government for U.S. help in averting a coup in return for full cooperation in crushing Pakistan-based Afghan insurgents and reining in the country's premier intelligence agency. The government fought the ruling, contending that the so-called Memogate scandal is a political matter that's already being investigated by parliament. If the judicial panel confirms the authenticity of the offer to the U.S. — allegedly made in a secret memo drafted by a top Zardari adviser — it could trigger parliamentary impeachment proceedings against the president.

Yet impeaching Zardari could prove difficult as he enjoys immunity from prosecution and his Pakistan Peoples Party controls the largest bloc of legislative seats. The result could be a stalemate that's likely to see the army intensify its battle against Zardari — consigning Pakistan to a prolonged internal power struggle that would divert its leaders from tackling violent Islamic radicalism and repairing ties with the United States. "Given the churn in the internal situation, this could prove distracting for the leadership and complicate decision-making," said a Western diplomat, who requested anonymity because of the delicacy of the situation. "We're seeing a process that could play out over several months."

Among other moves, the military is expected to continue encouraging its political allies to join a political party led by Imran Khan, a sports celebrity-turned-politician, who has struck a chord with young and middle-class Pakistanis with a campaign against endemic corruption. Top generals want to force out Zardari, the widower of assassinated Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, considering him too pro-West and bent on wresting away the army's control over national security and foreign policies, analysts and military insiders said. "It's not really about national security, although that's part of it," said Hamir Mir, the host of Pakistan's most popular current affairs television show. "The problem is that some generals suffer from a deadly disease which makes them crave a (figurehead) presidency, with the dominant role reserved for the army."

But the powerful military-run spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate, or ISI, advised the army chief of staff, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, that the public would oppose a fifth military coup in 64 years, military insiders said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Pakistan's fiercely independent chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhury, made it clear earlier this month that the Supreme Court would declare a coup an act of treason. A takeover also would unify the normally fractious major political parties against the army and incur the wrath of the highly influential media, analysts said. Like the October 1999 coup by former Gen. Pervez Musharraf, another takeover would leave Pakistan isolated internationally, bringing severe repercussions for its crisis-ridden economy, analysts said.

Read more here: Power struggle could further destabilize Pakistan | McClatchy

 

[waltky]

Granny says dey need to put Musharraf back in charge...

Pakistan too important to turn our back on: Clinton
23 Feb.`12 — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday that Pakistan was too important for Washington to turn its back on, following ice-breaking talks with her Pakistani counterpart.

Clinton and Hina Rabbani Khar spoke for an hour and a half on the sidelines of a London conference on Somalia, in a first step towards thawing relations that were frozen in November when US air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Clinton said there would still be "ups and downs" in the relationship but that neither side could afford to shun the other. "Building and sustaining a relationship based on mutual interest and mutual respect takes constant care and work, from both sides," Clinton told a press conference. "I'm sure we will continue to have our ups and downs. But this relationship is simply too important to turn our back on -- for both nations. "And we both remain committed to continue working to improve understanding and cooperation."

Relations between Pakistan and the United States were severely damaged last year by a covert American raid that killed terror chief Osama bin Laden, as well as the air strikes on the soldiers. Clinton and Khar discussed tackling violent extremism, supporting Afghan-led reconciliation and improving ties between Washington and Islamabad, the secretary of state said. She spoke of "difficult times which I admit we are in", adding that there had been "a lot of swirling in the air of who said what when that does not accurately reflect the state of the relationship". The meeting was an important chance to "keep the lines of communication open" and "the work hasn't stopped", she added.

The United States says Pakistan's tribal belt provides sanctuary to Taliban fighting in Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda groups plotting attacks on the West, Pakistani Taliban who routinely bomb Pakistan and other foreign fighters. President Barack Obama last month confirmed for the first time that US drones target Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants on Pakistani soil, but American officials do not discuss details of the covert programme. The US strikes are deeply unpopular among the Pakistani public, who see the attacks as a violation of sovereignty and who blame the government's US alliance for much of the violence plaguing the country.

Source

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Clinton to Pakistan: "Get back to business"
February 23rd, 2012 - The United States and Pakistan sought to repair damaged ties ahead of a review by Pakistan's parliament on how the relationship between the two countries should go forward.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar for more than an hour Thursday on the sidelines of a conference in London on Somalia.The meeting was largely symbolic, as Pakistan has in essence halted much of its cooperation with the United States while its parliament reassess future terms of engagement with Washington following the U.S. airstrike in November that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers along the border with Afghanistan. Khar told Clinton the parliamentary recommendations would not be unveiled until next month, after the country elects and swears in a new senate, a senior State Department official told reporters after the meeting.

Clinton told the minister the Obama administration respected the Pakistani parliament's right to debate the issue, but said the United States was eager to "get back to business with Pakistan" on issues of shared interest, including counter-terrorism and Afghan reconciliation talks with the Taliban once the review was complete. She also laid out her vision for how the U.S.-Pakistan relationship would look going forward, the official said. Clinton also floated the idea of high-level visits by officials such as Deputy Secretary Tom Nides and Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman, as well possible aid the United States can provide in the future.

The Pakistani government rejected a NATO report that blamed misunderstandings on both sides for the deadly border incident, and closed NATO supply routes across its borders to Afghanistan. Anti-American sentiment in Pakistan has also been fueled by anger over the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden at a compound in Pakistan last May, and continued American drone strikes on targets in the nation. For its part, Washington has questioned Islamabad's resolve to fight extremism, and has slashed military aid to Pakistan.

A classified NATO report leaked earlier this month said Pakistan's secret services are assisting the Taliban in carrying out attacks on foreign troops in Afghanistan, a charge Khar said was false. U.S. have officials openly discussed how the Taliban can operate freely from Pakistan. "From its Pakistani safe havens, the Taliban leadership remains confident of eventual victory," said Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee last week. While Khar told Clinton that Pakistan would welcome a return to working with the United States, the official did not sugar-coat the difficulties of rebuilding the relationship after what is expected to be tough recommendations from parliament. "They will, I think, very much respect what it is the parliament has to say," she said of Pakistan's civilian government.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Here we go again...

Despite Haqqani Network, Administration Insists That Pakistan Is a Crucial Ally
September 11, 2012 – The Obama administration is emphasizing that the decision to designate the Haqqani network in Pakistan as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) is not intended to send a message to Pakistan, but some experts argue that the group will only be weakened if pressure is applied on Islamabad.

Since Friday’s announcement designating the Haqqani network as an FTO – a step that came only after congressional pressure and a legislative deadline – administration officials repeatedly have sought to distance Pakistan from the move, despite the group’s longstanding, well-documented ties to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. Last September, then Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen told a Senate committee that the Haqqani network (HQN) was a “veritable arm” of the ISI, a charge that triggered an uproar in Pakistan.

Asked during an interview Sunday whether the FTO designation was intended as a message to Pakistan that it was not doing enough to rein in the HQN, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it was not. “It’s part of the continuing effort to try to send a message to them [the Haqqanis] – not to anybody else, but to them – because of the really incredibly damaging attacks that they have waged against us, against other targets, and inside Afghanistan,” she told Bloomberg News.

Clinton’s comments followed those by two “senior administration officials,” who in a background teleconference briefing characterized Pakistan as a crucial ally rather than part of the problem. “This is targeted specifically at the Haqqani network,” one of the officials said. “It is not targeted in any way at any organ of the Pakistani government. And I just want to be very clear about that. “We continue to talk frequently at virtually every intervention with the Pakistanis about what more can be done to squeeze the network,” the official continued. “We have a common enemy in fighting extremism given that 30,000 Pakistanis or more have been killed in the last decade, and we have a very good partnership with the government of Pakistan on combating extremism.”

Reminded about Mullen’s assessment a year ago about ISI-Haqqani links, the second official at the briefing replied, “I want to just unequivocally state that this in no way is the consensus, unanimous view of this administration.” The official also stressed, in reply to a question, that there was no move underway to start a process of designating Pakistan as a state sponsor of terrorism. “If anything, as I just noted, they have been an extremely valuable ally in countering extremism and terrorism, and we are committed to continuing and maintaining and increasing that coordination and cooperation.”

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[Ariux]

Pakistan is an ally in the same sense that a random women on the street is your lover under the terms of cash for cooperating and a bullet for not cooperating. Every Pakistani would love to see every American rapist dead, and the Jews who sent them.

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

A US Congressional panel froze $700 million in aid to Pakistan until the country gives assurances it is joining the fight against the spread of homemade bombs in the region, Reuters reported.

The latest move by the United States may only further hurt ties with Pakistan and contribute to the growing sense of anti-Americanism in the population, a senior Pakistani official told NBC News. The relationship between the two counties suffered greatly in May when US forces killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

The cutback in aid shows the United States’ frustration over what it sees as Islamabad’s reluctance to act against militant groups, the BBC reported. Pakistan is one of the largest recipients of US foreign aid. The cutback announced by Congress on Tuesday is only a small portion of the billions in civil and military assistance the country receives each year, Reuters reported.

Still, the freeze in aid, which is a part of a defense bill expected to be passed by Congress later this week, could cause further cuts, the BBC reported. The US has given about $20 billion in security and economic aid to Pakistan since 2001, mostly in the form of reimbursements for assistance in fighting militants. Congress says Islamabad has not only failed to act against the militant groups, it has actively provided help to them in some cases, the BBC reported.

Read More:
US Congress freezes $700 million in aid for Pakistan
DRUDGE REPORT 2012®

It's like worrying if a kid is mad at you b/c you take away his treat while he throws a tantrum.

 

[JamesInFlorida]

Would you look at that? Even a broken clock is right twice a day!

 

[waltky]

Pakistan on road to failed state...

Survey: Most Young Pakistanis Pessimistic as Economy Struggles
April 02, 2013 — Nearly 100 percent of young Pakistanis are pessimistic about the future and believe their country is headed in the wrong direction, a survey released on Wednesday found.

A British Council study, entitled "Next Generation Goes to The Ballot Box," also showed that only one in five young adults expect their economic situation to improve over the next year. The findings make for disturbing reading for politicians who are trying to win over Pakistanis ahead of a May 11 general election. Pakistan's elected government completed its full five-year term last month, the first in the country's turbulent history to do so. While that may have bolstered the young democracy, a growing number of Pakistanis are wondering if their leaders will ever tackle poverty, crippling power cuts, corruption and a Taliban insurgency. "Pessimism is fast becoming a defining trait of Pakistan's next generation," said the British Council, which defined young people as between 18 and 29-years-old. "Economic factors appear to be the most important driver in the next generation's rising pessimism," said the council, which is partly funded by the British government and promotes British education, culture and business abroad.

Critics say Pakistani politicians are often too distracted to fix the nuclear-armed country's problems. The military, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 66-year-history, is widely seen as the most efficient institution in the South Asian nation. Politicians are often consumed by tension with an increasingly interventionist Supreme Court or the army and spend little time worrying about the economy, critics say. In 2008, Pakistan averted a balance of payments crisis by securing an $11 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan package, but the IMF suspended it in 2011 after economic and reform targets, including widening a miniscule tax base, were missed.

Supporters of the political party Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf (PTI) shout slogans during a rally in Lahore, March 23, 2013.

Little Confidence

The Asian Development Bank, one of Pakistan's biggest lenders, predicts Pakistan will have to lean on the IMF again before the end of the year for up to $9 billion. The Taliban, who are waging a violent campaign to topple the U.S.-backed government, often recruits young jobless men who have grown disillusioned with the state. "Unfortunately, most young people feel that prosperity is sliding further from their grasp," the British Council said. "Over two-thirds of the next generation think they are now worse off than they were." Rising prices are the biggest concern. "The next generation has been shaped by its experience of increasingly expensive food, energy and other commodities. An overwhelming majority report pressure on the living standards of themselves and their families," said the council.

Pakistanis, long accustomed to dynastic politics or military rule, have few new candidates to choose from in the election. A former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, is seen as the front runner. But he could face tough competition from the ruling Pakistan People's Party. Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan had gained some popularity but analysts say his appeal appears to have faded. "Young people have very low levels of confidence in the institutions - government, parliament, political parties - most responsible for setting the country's direction," said the survey. "In contrast, the justice system and the media have higher approval ratings, as does Pakistan's armed forces."

Source

See also:

Pakistani power station attacked, seven murdered
Wed, Apr 03, 2013 - Dozens of suspected militants attacked a major power station in northwest Pakistan with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades and killed seven people, police said yesterday.

The assault, in the run-up to May 11 general elections, destroyed the biggest power station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, suspending electricity supply to half of Peshawar.

It served as a reminder that Pakistan’s leaders have failed to tackle a Taliban insurgency that remains potent despite a series of security crackdowns. Pakistan’s Taliban has threatened to escalate violence ahead of the polls, including attacks on political rallies.

Police official Mohammad Ishaq said two people, a policeman and a security guard, were killed on the spot in the pre-dawn incident and five others died later after being kidnapped. The bullet-riddled bodies of the captives have been recovered, the official added.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. “They entered the grid station and started setting ablaze each and every thing. They kidnapped nine people and killed five of them later and threw their bodies in the fields,” Ishaq said.

Pakistani power station attacked, seven murdered - Taipei Times

 

[paulitician]

It's been defrosted. The Taxpayer Aid is flowing again.

 

[High_Gravity]

It's been defrosted. The Taxpayer Aid is flowing again.

The gravy train is back on the tracks.

 

[Avatar4321]

It's been defrosted. The Taxpayer Aid is flowing again.

Did anyone really expect the stop would be permenant?

Why are we bribing foreign countries?

 

[High_Gravity]

It's been defrosted. The Taxpayer Aid is flowing again.

Did anyone really expect the stop would be permenant?

Why are we bribing foreign countries?

We Yankees are under the impression that friendships bought with money mean something.

 

[tjvh]

It's been defrosted. The Taxpayer Aid is flowing again.

The gravy train is back on the tracks.

Yeah... It was never in danger of derailing, they would have just sidetracked its cargo of Taxpayer cash to another country that also hates America.

 

[Avatar4321]

It's been defrosted. The Taxpayer Aid is flowing again.

Did anyone really expect the stop would be permenant?

Why are we bribing foreign countries?

We Yankees are under the impression that friendships bought with money mean something.

They do mean something. It means tax payers are spending money keeping corrupt politicians in power overseas and not just at home.

 

[DiamondDave]

There should be no "until".. it should be just cut the fuck off... for all the other countries as well