US cuts aid to Pakistan military

[High_Gravity]

Step in the right direction.

US cuts aid to Pakistan military

RELATIONS between the US and Pakistan hit a new low yesterday after the White House announced that it was withdrawing $800 million ($A748 million) of cash and equipment to the country's military.

William Daley, President Obama's Chief of Staff, said that Washington had decided to withhold more than a third of the more than $2 billion annual package in protest at Pakistan's decision to cut back on counter-terrorism co-operation after Osama bin Laden's killing.

The decision sends an explicit message to Islamabad: if it wants US aid, it will be on American terms. The shipments of rifles, ammunition and body armour were intended for Pakistani troops being trained by American officers who Islamabad ordered out of the country in anger at the US Special Forces' raid on bin Laden's hiding place.

Other shipments of radios, night-vision goggles and helicopter spare parts are being halted because Pakistan has refused visas to the American personnel required to set up and operate the equipment.

In what may be the biggest blow, Washington is withholding dollars $300m in cash intended to reimburse Pakistan for some of the costs of deploying more than 100,000 soldiers along the Afghan border.

The move comes amid serious questions over Islamabad's commitment to impeding the flow of militants fighting Nato troops inside Afghanistan.

Washington has long been infuriated by Islamabad's "double game" in which leaders have been happy to accept aid intended for the fight against militants linked to al-Qaeda, while elements of its military and intelligence establishment give them secret support.

American officials began to confront Islamabad with evidence of this duplicity in the last months of George W. Bush's presidency. Members of the Obama Administration have kept up the pressure and relations became even more strained with the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound.

The discovery that the al-Qaeda leader had been hiding for at least five years in Abbottabad, a garrison town at the heart of the country's military infrastructure, sparked a new round of accusations about Pakistani complicity with al-Qaeda. The Pentagon said that it had not sought Pakistani permission for the raid because it did not believe that Islamabad could be trusted.

Twice since then senior US officials have confronted Pakistani generals with evidence that insurgents were warned of impeding American strikes.

In an unprecedented statement last week, Admiral Mike Mullen, the Joint Chief of Staff, accused Pakistan's military spy agency of the murder of a Pakistani journalist who had uncovered evidence linking al-Qaeda with the country's navy.

US cuts aid to Pakistan military | The Australian

 

[Moonglow]

cut off aid to many others would be fine.

 

[High_Gravity]

cut off aid to many others would be fine.

Oh yes there are many others who don't deserve our hard earned moneys. Lebanon and the Palestinian territories get US moneys, which in turn goes to Hamas and Hezbollah.

 

[High_Gravity]

Pervez Musharraf, Former Pakistani President, Criticizes Suspension Of U.S. Aid To Pakistan's Military

HOUSTON — Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said Monday the White House's suspension of $800 million in U.S. aid to the Pakistani military is not in the interest of either nation and could hamper anti-terror efforts.

"We are weakening the country and the army," Musharraf said during an address at Rice University's Baker Institute of Public Policy. "It will have a negative effect certainly on the Pakistan army, on its capability to fight terrorism."

President Barack Obama's chief of staff, William Daley confirmed over the weekend the withholding of the cash intended for the Pakistani military, saying while the strained relationship between the United States and Pakistan must be made "to work over time," until it does, "we'll hold back some of the money that the American taxpayers are committed to give" to the country's powerful military forces.

Musharraf said he was saddened by the "present environment of confrontation almost between Pakistan and the United States, between the two armies, the two intelligence services."

"It saddens me because I remember when there was trust," he said, pointing to what he said were his strong relationships with President George W. Bush and then-Secretary of State Colin Powell.

"I could pick up the phone," he said. "The line was always open. I wonder now if that degree of communication exists."

He said there was a "trust deficit" and a "confidence deficit" between the countries and the restoration of better relations depended on leadership and straight talk, beginning with Pakistani assurances to Washington that there was no complicity with providing haven for Osama bin Laden.

The former military ruler's tenure as president included years Osama bin Laden apparently moved in the compound in Abbottabad, home of Pakistan's military academy, where he was killed May 2 by U.S. commandos during a covert raid. As he has in the past, Musharraf Monday denied he or Pakistan's domestic spy services knew of bin Laden's location, at least during his time in power.

"For two years, I can for sure, with 100 percent guarantee, whether you believe it or not, I didn't know," he said.

As for the possibility of the army or the Pakistani intelligence service hiding that knowledge from him, he said: "No. Absolutely zero. They are my people. I commanded them. How could they hide from me?"

He said a step in easing the rift between the nations would start with the U.S. taking into concern "our sensitivities, our own honor and dignity as a sovereign nation."

While Americans were angered at the possibility Pakistan was providing bin Laden cover, Pakistanis were enraged over what they saw as American violation of their sovereignty.

On Sunday, Daley acknowledged much the same, saying the decision to suspend military aid resulted from the increasing estrangement between the U.S. and its sometimes unreliable partner in the fight against terrorism.

"Obviously there's still a lot of pain that the political system in Pakistan is feeling by virtue of the raid that we did to get Osama bin Laden," Daley said.

The U.S. long has been unhappy with Pakistan's evident lack of enthusiasm for carrying the fight against terrorists to its tribal areas, as well as its covert support for the Taliban and anti-Indian extremist groups. A senior U.S. official has confirmed the aid suspension came in response to the Pakistani army's decision to significantly reduce the number of visas for U.S. military trainers.

Musharraf said the start of any trust would begin "at the top level."

"At the people's level, I think gradually it will take time and be restored," he said.

Pervez Musharraf, Former Pakistani President, Criticizes Suspension Of U.S. Aid To Pakistan's Military

 

[Sallow]

They should have shut down aid after the attack on the Taj in Mumbai.