SwordFish_13
Active member
Hi,
Peace
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WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives on Thursday agreed to triple American non-military aid to Pakistan to $1.5 billion per year in a
gesture marked by
doubts and recrimination about the bonafides of Washington’s suspect ally.
There was nothing full-throated about the vote on the Pakistan Enduring Assistance and Cooperation Enhancement (PEACE) Act 2009 which passed 234-185, reflecting the divisions among US lawmakers about how the administration should handle Pakistan. Most Representatives who opposed the bill did so because it was laden with tight conditions and caveats for disbursal of aid; not because they were opposed to aid.
But those who voted for the increase that will add up to $7.5 billion through fiscal 2013 did so by packing the bill with conditions. To begin with, the bill requires that the vast majority of such assistance be focused on critical counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism efforts; it cannot be used to purchase offensive weapons systems for the Pakistani army. In addition, the bill requires that all military assistance flow through the democratically elected Government of Pakistan.
The legislation includes other accountability measures for military assistance, including a requirement that the Government of Pakistan has demonstrated a sustained commitment to combating terrorist groups and has made progress towards that end.
"We are simply asking Pakistan to follow through with the commitments it has already made," Howard Berman, the Democratic chairman of the House sub-committee that oversees South Asia, who led the effort to monitor Pakistan, said. "And in the process, we lay down an important marker that Congress will no longer provide a blank check."
But some Republican lawmakers bristled at the conditions. "Our Democratic colleagues decided to load this bill up with ill-conceived provisions to micro-manage US security assistance to Pakistan," fumed Dan Burton, the top Republican on the sub-committee. “This is not just a debate between (US lawmakers), this is about war and peace and the survivability of Pakistan as an independent nation. It's about winning or losing the war in Afghanistan."
The story is not over yet. The House bill will not have to be reconciled with the Senate version of a similar bill in a "conference" process that could prove contentious. The Senate bill, piloted by John Kerry and Richard Lugar, is also less stringent on conditions to be imposed on Pakistan, believing that straitjacketing the administration will not help the fight against extremism.
Peace
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