Author: Chidanand Rajghatta
Publication: The Times of India
Date: August 7, 2009
Pakistan has been a "black hole"
for US aid with a corrupt Pakistani military squandering 90% of American taxpayer
funds it received on conventional armaments that had no relevance to the war
on terror, a new study has revealed.
A paper by Harvard University's Kennedy School
research fellow Azeem Ibrahim, titled 'US aid to Pakistan-US taxpayers have
funded Pakistani corruption', says the unfettered flow of American aid has
stalled democratization "by giving the military a disincentive to submit
to civilian control, increasing its independence from government, and ignoring
evidence of profiteering from military budgets".
The paper points to specific examples of the
Pakistan military wasting using US funds, running into billions, on conventional
weaponry instead of on fighting terror. Examples include F16s, aircraft-mounted
armaments, anti-ship and antimissile defence systems, and an air defence radar
system costing $200 million, "despite the fact that the terrorists...have
no air attack capability."
"It seems that Pakistan's military and
security services have for many years been a black hole for US funds. They
have enriched individuals at the expense of the proper functioning of Pakistani
institutions and the country's ability to fight extremists and provided already
kleptocratic institutions with further incentives for corruption," the
study says.
