Washington, October 01: The US Congress voted to triple aid to Pakistan in a five-year commitment aimed at bringing development to the frontline nation and reducing the allure of extremism.
President Barack Obama has enthusiastically supported the 7.5-billion-dollar package, calling it a long-term investment to fight Al-Qaeda extremists by building schools, empowering women and strengthening the civilian government.
“This legislation helps give Pakistan the tools, support and capability it needs to defeat Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups that threaten our national security,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after the vote.
The House of Representatives gave the final go-ahead despite the misgivings of some lawmakers concerned either that Pakistan was not doing enough to fight extremists or that the heavily indebted United States cannot afford the package.
Representative Howard Berman, an author of the legislation, regretted that the final version had lighter conditions on the aid but said it was most crucial to forge a “true strategic partnership” with Pakistan and its people.
“We can’t allow Al-Qaeda or any other terrorist group that threatens our national interest to operate with impunity in the tribal regions or any other part of Pakistan,” said Berman, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“Nor can we permit the Pakistani state and its nuclear arsenal to be taken over by the Taliban.”
Obama has made the fight against Al-Qaeda, which carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, and the Taliban a top foreign policy priority of his young presidency.
In a shift of tactics, Obama has viewed Pakistan and Afghanistan as part of the same conflict, worried about fighters’ movement across the porous frontier. Obama is also considering sending more troops into Afghanistan.
The House approved the Pakistan aid bill by a voice vote after its unanimous approval last week in the Senate.
Senators had toned down some of the stricter conditions in the bill after both Pakistani and Obama administration officials warned of the risks of micro-managing the assistance.
The bill still insists that Pakistan take action against extremist groups on its soil and not assist them in fighting neighboring countries, namely India.
But instead of threatening cutoffs of aid, it allows the president to waive the review if he determines that sending the aid suits US interests.
Representative Gary Ackerman, one of India’s strongest supporters in Congress, worried that Pakistan’s government still saw New Delhi as the prime enemy and shared sympathies with Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
The aid package “is not a blueprint for partnership; it is a recipe for disappointment followed by disillusion,” said Ackerman, a member of Obama’s Democratic Party.
“Pakistan’s interests and ours are simply not very closely aligned.”
Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, a conservative Republican, charged that Pakistan was still supporting Islamic extremists and fretted that China would finance more of the ballooning US debt.
“American soldiers still die everyday because our diplomats won’t face reality. They keep telling us that Pakistan is just coming around,” he said. “It’s clear they (Pakistan) are playing us like a fiddle.”
Republican Ron Paul said that the United States was bankrupting itself by excessive military involvement.
“The way we treat our fellow countries around the world is we tell them what to do and if they do it, we give them money, if they don’t, then we bomb them,” Paul said.
In Pakistan, he said, “we’re doing both.”
The vote came as US military carried out three military strikes in the previous 24 hours against Taliban strongholds in northwest Pakistan.
Obama has hoped to soften the US image in Pakistan by expanding aid and trade.
But Congress has yet to finalize a plan that would establish special zones in Pakistan and Afghanistan for duty-free goods.
“We need to move forward on trade because we do know that that provides for a more sustainable foundation for long-term economic growth in Pakistan,” said Congressman Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat who sponsored the measure.
–Agencies