Author: S Rajagopalan
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: May 14, 2009
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/176094/Senators-oppose-Obama-move-on-aid-to-Pakistan.html
A week after Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's
extensive meetings in Washington, the Obama Administration is still to resolve
differences in the US Congress over its proposal of US $7.5 billion in economic
aid to Pakistan over the next five years, besides an unspecified amount in
military aid.
A meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee late on Tuesday witnessed sharp exchanges with two Senators, Democrat
Robert Menendez and Republican Bob Corker, questioning the grant of such huge
sums without stipulating benchmarks beforehand.
President Barack Obama's special envoy Richard
Holbrook found himself in a tight spot as he sought to make the case for urgent
Congressional nod to the aid plan.
The legislation on the aid package, moved
by Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar, will soon come up for a floor vote.
Meanwhile, the Obama Administration has announced $5 million in emergency
aid to Pakistan to help tide over the refugee crisis following the anti-Taliban
offensive in the Swat region.
Pushing for early passage of the legislation,
Holbrooke said the aid package would go a long way in helping Pakistan's new
democracy build roads, improve healthcare and combat poverty. "The only
beneficiary of a delay in this Bill is the enemies of our nation," he
commented.
But Senators Menendez and Corker stood their
ground, challenging Holbrooke's assertions. Besides their opposition at the
committee meeting, there are indications that some other Senators are planning
amendments to stipulate conditions which Pakistan has been resisting.
Citing Pakistan's track record, Menendez said
he remained troubled by the fact that Pakistan had spent much of the $12 billion
received in US aid in the past on building up its military against India instead
of fighting against insurgents gaining strength on its west.
"The Pakistanis have, in my mind, a series
of one step forward, two steps backwards…. You wonder whether the Pakistanis
are on the same page as us or they are only there when, in fact, pressure
is exerted in their own national interest as well as ours," he said.
Menendez, who also chairs the subcommittee
in charge of foreign assistance, was livid with some of Holbrooke's assertions.
"You're asking us to vote for a whole new set of money without knowing
whether there are going to be benchmarks, without knowing whether we have
a better system of accountability," he told the veteran diplomat, adding
he "personally can't continue down that road".
Corker went a step further, saying he wanted
to ensure that the aid money did not end up "in a bank account in Switzerland",
commenting: "For us to pass a large amount of funding and yet then ask
for you to tell us what you're going to do with it, to me seems backwards."
"We have not hashed out what's happening,
and we are going to be engaged there for many, many, many years. Many men
and women will lose their lives. We're doubling down. And we haven't debated
this yet," Corker said.
Senator Kerry, chairing the hearing, defended
the aid package, saying the US needed to mend "a broken relationship
with the Pakistani people". "Today an alarming number of Pakistanis
actually view America as a greater threat than Al Qaeda," he said, adding:
"Until this changes, there's little chance of ending tolerance for terrorist
groups, or persuading any Pakistani Government to devote the political capital
necessary to deny such groups sanctuary and covert material support."
Kerry praised Pakistan's new military offensive
against the Taliban, commenting: "In recent days we have seen encouraging
signs that Pakistan's Army is finally taking the fight to enemy, but much
remains to be done."
