U.S. cuts $800 million to Pakistan in security aide: White House

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U.S. cuts $800 million to Pakistan in security aide: White House

By Alison Gendar
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Originally Published:Sunday, July 10th 2011, 3:06 PM
Updated: Sunday, July 10th 2011, 3:06 PM


Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty
Obama administration has slashed aide to Pakistan following dispute over Osama bin Laden operation that left the terror leader dead.

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WASHINGTON - The U.S. cut off $800 million in aid to Pakistan's military - punishment for not stepping up in the fight against terror, the Obama administration said Sunday.

"Obviously they have been an important ally in the fight on terrorism. They've been the victim of enormous amounts of terrorism," Bill Daley told ABC's "This Week."

"But right now they have taken some steps that have given us reason to pause on some of the aid which we were giving to their military, and we're trying to work through that," he told "This Week's" Christiane Amanpour.

The cuts, first reported today by the New York Times, would hold back more than one-third of the $2 billion the U.S. sends Pakistan each year for security.


Protestors torch an effigy of Obama in Karachi. (Asif Hassan/AFP/Getty)

The always problematic alliance between the U.S. and Pakistan took a nose-dive in May, when American forces found and killed Osama bin Laden in a suburb of the Pakistan capital.

Congress went ballistic in June when Pakistan's spy agency took into custody the half-dozen or so Pakistani informants who were instrumental in helping the U.S. find bin Laden.

That move was seen as Pakistan's way to eliminate any eyes on the ground that would enable America to conduct similar raids in the future, lawmakers said.

By choking off military funds, the U.S. hopes to force Pakistan to choose between its subrosa support of the Taliban and other militants - and America, the nation that writes the checks for much of its military .

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China pledges support for Pak in wake of US military aid cut

From ANI

Beijing, July 13(ANI): China has pledged its support for Pakistan following the United States' decision to suspended 800 million dollars in military assistance to Islamabad.

"Pakistan is an important country in South Asia. The stability and development of Pakistan is closely connected with the peace and stability of South Asia," The Express tribune quoted China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, as saying.

"China has always provided assistance to Pakistan, helping it improve people's livelihood and realize the sustainable development of its economy and society. China will continue to do so in the future," Lei added.

White House Chief of Staff William Daley had earlier confirmed that the Obama administration had held off a third of the two billion dollars in security aid in a show of displeasure over Pakistan's cutback of US military trainers, limits on visa for US personnel and other bilateral irritants.

The US provides about 300 million dollars a year to reimburse Pakistan for deploying over 100,000 troops along the Afghan border to combat militant groups. Other funding covers training and military hardware.

Copyright Asian News International/DailyIndia.com

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Pakistan: US aid cut will not harm fight against terror

Comments (78)



Pakistan is engaged in two anti-terror operations in the tribal regions
Continue reading the main story

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Pakistan's army spokesman has said a cut in US military aid will not affect its ability to combat terror groups.

Gen Athar Abbas told the BBC that Islamabad had not yet been officially told of the reason for the $800m (£500m) cuts or what they would entail.

The money equates to about a third of the annual US security aid to Pakistan.

Announcing the move on Sunday, the US said Pakistan was an important ally but that there were "difficulties" to overcome in their relationship.
White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley told ABC television that Pakistan had "taken some steps that have given us reason to pause on some of the aid".

Pakistan has long been considered a vital ally by Washington in the fight against al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, who use safe havens in Pakistan's tribal regions on the Afghan border.

But many in the US Congress have questioned the value of the more than $2bn in military aid sent to Islamabad each year, particularly following the discovery that al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden managed to live undetected in the city of Abbottabad, almost next door to a major military academy.

The tormented relationship between the United States and Pakistan is especially bad right now and looks to be getting worse.

In the short-term a total rupture is unlikely. The stakes are too high.
But in the medium term the strategic factors which have underpinned their relationship since the 9/11 attacks in Washington and New York are changing.

The US is scaling back its war on terror. And the Obama administration is hoping to withdraw the overwhelming bulk of its forces from Afghanistan.

Vital supply routes through Pakistan will thus no longer be needed.

Pakistan is eager to retain its longstanding interests in its Afghan neighbour and remains suspicious of India's friendship with Kabul.

Defence ties between Beijing and Islamabad are growing. Can they replace those with Washington? Not yet, but the fact that the question is being asked suggests the significance of the underlying changes that are afoot.

The US operation to kill Bin Laden in May this year was carried out without Pakistan being informed in advance.

In a sign of their deteriorating relationship, Pakistan has since expelled more than 100 US military trainers and has threatened to shut down a CIA base.

The top US military officer Adm Mike Mullen also suggested last week that the Pakistani government had "sanctioned" the killing in May of journalist Saleem Shahzad.

Civilian needs Gen Abbas said the move would have "no significant effect" on Pakistan's anti-terror efforts. "We will continue our operations as in the past."

Two major military operations currently under way in the Mohmand and Kurram tribal regions were being run without external support and would continue, he said, adding that al-Qaeda and other military groups operating in Pakistan were "not only a threat to us but to others".

Gen Abbas said he could not say which parts of the military would be worst hit until US officials told him what sections of aid were being cut.

But he said Pakistan's army chief had already been asking for military aid to be redirected towards civilian areas, where it was needed more.

The increasing US drone attack on militants inside Pakistan along the Afghan border is also a continuing source of antagonism - there are regular complaints of civilian casualties.

Continue reading the main story US-Pakistan downturn

• 2 May: US announces Bin Laden's death and says Pakistan not warned of raid
• 14 May: Pakistan MPs demand review of US ties
• 26 May: US announces withdrawal of some US troops at Pakistan's request
• 27 May: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits to try to soothe relations
• 2 June: Top US military chief Adm Mike Mullen admits "significant" cut in US troops in Pakistan
• 10 June: CIA head Leon Panetta visits Pakistan; US admits "slow progress" in healing ties
• 8 July: Adm Mullen says Pakistan sanctioned killing of a journalist; Pakistan angrily rejects this
• 10 July: US suspends $800m of military aid

On Sunday, Mr Daley accepted that Pakistan had been "an important ally in the fight on terrorism" while also being "the victim of enormous amounts of terrorism".

But he said there was "a complicated relationship in a very difficult, complicated part of the world.

"Obviously, there's still lot of pain that the political system in Pakistan is feeling by virtue of the raid that we did to get Osama Bin Laden, something that the president felt strongly about and we have no regrets over.

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

A New York Times article on Saturday said some of the suspended aid had been earmarked as compensation for Pakistan's redeployment of troops to Afghan border areas to fight militants. Other cuts were in military equipment.

In figures submitted to the International Monetary Fund last autumn, Pakistan's defence expenditure in its 2010-2011 budget was put at $6.41bn - an increase of $1.27bn on the previous year.

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Pakistan Turns To China As US-Pakistan Relations Collapse

Posted by John J. Xenakis Jul 14th 2011 at 4:45 pm in Asia, China | Comments (21)

From the point of view of generational theory, a crisis era turns into a crisis war between two countries following a series of shocks and surprises, with each side crossing some kind of “red line,” and the other side making an even stronger response in retaliation.

Pakistan’s ISI director Ahmad Shuja Pasha (a Doppelgänger of Ray Romano) visiting Washington on Wednesday (AP)

The latest shock in the U.S.-Pakistan relationship is the revelation that the CIA recruited a Pakistani doctor to run a vaccination program in the area around Osama bin Laden’s suspected home, in order to gather DNA evidence from bin Laden family members, according to CNN. The CIA wanted to be completely certain that bin Laden was actually in the house before the military operation that killed him. Two women who appeared to be nurses visited homes and offered free vaccinations for hepatitis B.

Rashee Jooma, former spokesman for Pakistan’s Ministry of Health, criticized the CIA operation, telling CNN, “This was an irresponsible act by the CIA. This will harm the cause [of the Global Campaign to Eradicate Polio].

There have been several other shocks to Pakistan just in the last couple of weeks. American Admiral Mike Mullen publicly accused Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency of murdering a journalist, and of regularly using torture and murder.

The previous shock to Pakistan was last week’s announcement that the Obama administration decided to suspend $800 million in military assistance to the country.

According to the International Business Times, Pakistan just shrugged off the loss of aid. An expert on Pakistan’s military said that the amount was not “substantial enough to immediately change policy,” but that Pakistan’s military might move closer to the militants. “If the partnership frays.

Pakistan is no longer seen as fighting America’s war. You can negotiate with militant groups then.”

However, that view seems to have changed rather quickly.

Ahmad Shuja Pasha, head of Pakistan’s ISI, made a surprise visit to Washington on Wednesday, according to CS Monitor, to patch up the rapidly deteriorating relationship between the two countries.

Prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani expressed “concerns” on Wednesday about how the cuts would affect the country’s fight with extremism. “It is our own war, but we are fighting this war for the entire world.”

Whether these last-minutes statements will make much difference at this point is highly doubtful. It will be interesting to see if the Obama administration restores the $800 million in aid and, if so, how Pakistan’s public reacts to what would be the widespread perception that Pakistan’s government is selling its soul.

Moving closer to China

If you look around the world today, there are two areas where a crisis seems imminent. One area is the European financial crisis, which substantially worsens every day. I honestly don’t think that they can get through the summer without a major crisis but but who knows — maybe they’ll figure out a way to “kick the can down the road” once more.

The other area is Pakistan, where a series of shocks and surprises have caused the US-Pakistan to fall like a rock. Both the European and Pakistan situations could explode any day.

There appear to be no such shocks and surprises in the relationship between Pakistan and China.

On Tuesday, the Pakistan Navy began construction in Karachi shipyard of a missile boat that will be equipped with anti-surface missiles, automatic guns and weapons systems. These and other vessels are being built with the cooperation of China, according to The Nation (Pakistan).

China is the single largest arms supplier to Pakistan, according to the International Business Times. As the US-Pakistan relationship deteriorates, and suspicions are increasing, China will support Pakistan and at the same time as it enlarge its sphere of influence in the Asian Pacific region.

Pakistan’s relationship with China has continued to grow closer, as we’ve been describing for years. Within the last couple of years, China has substantially increased its claims related to border issues with India, and has unambiguously taken Pakistan’s side against India over the claims to the disputed areas of Kashmir and Jammu.

From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, it’s expected that Pakistan will be allied with China and India will be allied with the United States in the coming Clash of Civilizations world war.