PBS – The $800 million question
Source: PBS, 7/13/2011
ASP Fellow Joshua Foust is a featured author.
In its lover’s quarrel with Pakistan, the U.S. has again suspended aid to Pakistan.
“Ever since the death of Osama bin Laden at the hands of U.S. special operations forces, the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan has looked as if it were headed for a catastrophic breakdown. American officials have become increasingly angry and uncompromising in their public statements, leaks have multiplied detailing Pakistan’s involvement in nuclear proliferation, international terrorism and murdering journalists.
But the U.S. took a new tack in its lovers’ quarrel with Pakistan: suspending nearly $800 million in military aid to the country. Barely more than a third of the total aid the U.S. grants Pakistan each year, the suspended aid includes reimbursements for the deployment of troops along the border with Afghanistan — troops that have helped to spark a new confrontation with the Afghan government.
This isn’t the first time the U.S. has either suspended or threatened to suspend aid to Pakistan. In 1993, Washington cut off Islamabad over its nuclear program — not lifting the sanctions until after the September 11 attacks. In late 2007, when then-President Pervez Musharraf suspended the constitution and declared martial law, the U.S. again threatened to cut Pakistan off (thankfully, Musharraf eventually relented). On an almost routine basis, the U.S. makes various threats to cut off either high-level contact with the Pakistani government or certain aid packages in response to various misdeeds in Islamabad…”
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