US halting millions in military aid for Pakistan

US halting millions in military aid for Pakistan

Rob Crilly
Telegraph.co.uk
10 Jul 2011

Washington has poured billions of dollars into Pakistan since 9/11 to help its military tackle al-Qaeda and Taliban groups along the border with Afghanistan.

However, the relationship between the two countries has soured in recent weeks as the Pakistan military tries to reassert itself after the humiliation of the secret US raid on its soil – and the US pushes for more action in taking on militants.

Bill Daley, the White House Chief of Staff, said some aid would now be stopped as he admitted the relationship was expriencing 'difficulties’.

“It’s a complicated relationship in a very difficult, complicated part of the world,” he told ABC’s This Week programme.

“Until we get through these difficulties, we will hold back some of the money that the American taxpayers have committed to give them.”

Earlier three senior American officials told The New York Times that $800 million in military aid, more than a third of the $2 billion in annual American security assistance to Pakistan, could be affected.

The comments come after a series of public warnings that Pakistan had to meet its obligations.

“When it comes to our military aid we are not prepared to continue providing that at the pace we were providing it unless and until we see certain steps taken,” Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, told a Senate committee last month.

The aid being suspended includes about $300 million to reimburse Pakistan for deploying more than 100,000 soldiers along the Afghan border, the report said.

It also includes equipment the US wants to send but Pakistan now refuses to accept, such as rifles, ammunition, body armour and bomb-disposal equipment.

Pakistan’s military – one of the few national institutions respected by ordinary people – suffered a huge blow to its reputation when Osama bin Laden was found hiding only 30 miles from Islamabad, made worse by its inability to spot US helicopters as they flew in to kill or capture the world’s most wanted man.

Since then it has tried to distance itself from Washington, stepping up opposition to drone strikes and trying to make the CIA sign a written contract ruling out future raids.

However, the Army remains under huge pressure to launch an offensive in North Waziristan to clear out militant safe havens.

The US has responded with a series of anonymous briefings to American newspapers, accusing Pakistan’s ISI intelligence agency of murdering an investigative reporter and of retaining links to militant organisations.

Those concerns resurfaced at the weekend Leon Panetta, making his first trip to Afghanistan as US Defence Secretary, said that he believed bin Laden’s successor as al-Qaeda leader was hiding in Pakistan’s mountainous tribal belt.

“We’re within reach of strategically defeating al-Qaeda,” he said. “The key is that, having gotten Bin Laden, we’ve now identified some of the key leadership within al-Qaeda, both in Pakistan as well as in Yemen and other areas.”

The comments provoked an angry response from Pakistan’s military spokesman who said the army was already engaged in operations to hunt down al-Qaeda leaders.

“We expect US intelligence establishment to share available information and actionable intelligence regarding al-Zawahiri and other high-value targets with us enabling Pakistan Army to carry out targeted operations,” he said.

Major General Athar Abbas, a spokesman for the Pakistan military, said officers had not been informed of any changes to the aid package but added that any pause in assistance would not affect ongoing offensives against militants.

“We have sufficient resources to continue operations in the tribal belt,” he said.

Good move.

Agreed. Good move.