US to hold back $800 mln in aid to Pakistan

[stevo]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration will hold back about $800 million in aid to the Pakistani military because Washington is unhappy with Pakistan's expulsion of U.S. military trainers and its campaign against militants, the New York Times reported Saturday.

Relations between the two governments have been strained with the United States wanting Pakistan to intensify its counterterrorism efforts. The relationship also has been tense due to the surprise U.S. raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on May 2, U.S. drone attacks that have killed civilians and a raft of other issues.

The Times, citing three U.S. senior officials, said the United States was suspending or canceling $800 million in aid and equipment -- more than a third of the $2 billion it gives Pakistan for security assistance.

About $300 million in U.S. funding is to reimburse Pakistan for deploying more than 100,000 troops along the Afghan border to combat Taliban and other militant forces. Other funding covers training and military hardware, Times sources said.

U.S. officials told the newspaper the aid and equipment could be resumed if relations improve and Pakistan takes more action against militants.

Pakistan has shut down a U.S. program that had been training paramilitary forces, sending home more than 100 U.S. trainers in recent weeks, and has threatened to close the base the CIA has been using for drone plane attacks on militant targets.

The Times said in private briefings with congressional staffers last month that Pentagon officials said they would be taking a stronger stance toward Pakistan.

"They wanted to tell us, 'Guys, we're delivering the message that this is not business as usual and we've got this under control,'" one senior Senate aide told the newspaper.

In May a U.S. Navy SEAL team raided a compound where bin Laden was living in a Abbottabad, near Pakistan's military academy, raising questions about whether Pakistani officials had helped hide him. Pakistan complained it had not been told in advance about the raid.

Last week Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, accused Pakistan of kidnapping and killing a journalist.

The U.S.-Pakistan relationship also was damaged last year after a CIA contractor in Lahore killed two Pakistanis he said were trying to rob him.

Stevo

[YALE]

Sure would be nice if we didn't have to give them money.

[big_tiger]

Sure would be nice if we didn't have to borrow money from the Chinese, and give it to them.

^^

[YALE]

^^

Solid!

[SMEGMA STENCH]

Question: Why do we give anyone, any money? What have they ever done for us? How about we make them give us money. That's the way it ought to be. We're the superpower, not those little shitbags. They should all fear us and pay us tribute. Then we could live like kings.

[Cooter]

Question: Why do we give anyone, any money? What have they ever done for us? How about we make them give us money. That's the way it ought to be. We're the superpower, not those little shitbags. They should all fear us and pay us tribute. Then we could live like kings.

kings get overthrown... you gotta grease the wheels, man

[jw33]

It's straight up bribe money. From now on just tell them all have a nice day and if they have a problem, try and do something about it.

[Geor!]

As I posted up on the FOX article this morning:

Good start but we need to cut off all aid to them, then set off a series of events that will spark a war between them and India and let India hand them their asses.

[SMEGMA STENCH]

It's straight up bribe money. From now on just tell them all have a nice day and if they have a problem, try and do something about it.

They need to be bribing us not to kill them. I'd tell them they must now pay us money every year so they'd better get to work. And if I see one nuclear weapon anywhere, they'll have to change their name to iradiastan. Cause there's going to be an accident. One that unfortunately, anyone who could have told the tale was killed in.

[FastFox]

We should bring it ALL back home. Spend the money on OUR defenses. Let the rest of the tin horn dictators eat each other. If they mess with us, make it swift and deadly. Take out the country's hospitals first. Next the water systems and then the sewer systems (if they have one) and let the worms clean up what's left. If they need any help, send them some Texas buzzards and fire ants.

[SMEGMA STENCH]

Yeah see I don't see what's so wrong with that. That's what the russians did to the german people. The german people let the Nazi's take power, so the german people are responsible for cleaning up the mess.

[jw33]

This motherfucker has some nerve...

..HOUSTON (AP) — Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said Monday that the Obama administration'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-terrorism 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. He said 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 the years Osama bin Laden apparently moved to 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 on 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 in the raid on bin Laden.

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.

Musharraf took power in Pakistan in a 1999 coup and held it until stepping down in 2008 after months of protests and election losses among his supporters. He also drew criticism for his ouster of a supreme court judge, an action he defended Monday as constitutional.

Since his departure from Pakistan, he has been living in Dubai and London and has been making speaking appearances at colleges and universities.

He has said he'll return to his homeland no later than next March to resume his political ambitions and is considering a presidential run in 2013, which he called "the mother of all elections."

"I am very conscious of this," he said. "I am trying to contribute my bit to bring change about. We need to have determination and if it's in Pakistan's destiny to rise as a moderate progressive Islamic state."

He said a return to Pakistan would be for the nation's sake, not his.

"I'm very happy on the lecture circuit," he said. "They give me good money. I can live anywhere. As far as I'm concerned I'm comfortable."

Musharraf also has been dogged by allegations he was part of a conspiracy to assassinate ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in late 2007. He did not address that Monday in Houston but in the past has denied any involvement.

http://news.yahoo.com/pakistans-ex-president-criticizes-loss-us-aid-011124876.html