The decision to cut aid to Pakistan was long overdue.
Legitimate questions had been raised in the past concerning U.S. financial assistance to Pakistan. The Islamabad government has continued to turn a blind eye towards terrorist activities within its borders that threatened American interests and the safety of the U.S. citizenry, both civilian and military.
American relations with Pakistan are extensive.The United States established diplomatic relations with Pakistan following the country’s creation in 1947, and included cooperation and assistance in areas ranging from education to energy to trade and investment. The United States is Pakistan’s largest export destination country. In FY 2016 (July 2015 – June 2016), Pakistan exported $3.7 billion to the United States in 2015 and imported $1.837 billion. The United States has consistently been one of the top sources of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Pakistan, with cumulative U.S. FDI in Pakistan in calendar year 2015 at almost $400 million, including $38 million in new investment.
The State Department notes that “Attacks in 2014 on the Karachi airport and on an Army school in Peshawar had a catalytic effect across Pakistan and led to the adoption of a 20-point National Action Plan (NAP) to counter terrorism, and invigorated efforts to eliminate safe-havens within Pakistan. The United States welcomed Pakistan’s pledge to deny any militant group safe haven or the use of Pakistani soil to launch terrorist attacks.”
After the omission of patent protection from http://robertrobb.com/covid-19-credit-grabbing-and-blame-shifting-in-congress/ purchase cialis from india made by Pfizer because the generic drug is cost effective because the generic medicine manufacturer uses the formula discovered by Pfizer. They can go with the flow without being tensed about the coming. viagra 100mg tablet robertrobb.com Menorrhagia is common in women with von Willebrand disease are cialis without prescription http://robertrobb.com/why-arizona-shouldnt-have-an-anti-gouging-law/ asymptomatic. cheap viagra robertrobb.com This finding is particularly verifiable in patients with degenerative mitral valve disease. Despite that, terrorist have operated in Pakistan, and the Islamabad government has been far less than diligent in responding to that challenge. In response, the Trump Administration announced the suspension of $255 million in aid. President Trump tweeted that “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!”
The Brookings Institute notes that “The Trump administration’s decision to suspend military aid to Pakistan is one of the most significant U.S. punitive actions against that nation since 2001. The United States has long been frustrated with Pakistan’s persistent acquiescence to safe havens for the Afghan Taliban and its vicious Haqqani branch in Pakistan (both of which benefit more from misgovernance in Afghanistan, but Pakistan’s aid helps a lot). Worse yet, Pakistan has provided direct military and intelligence aid to both groups, resulting in the deaths of U.S. soldiers, Afghan security personnel, and civilians, plus significant destabilization of Afghanistan.”
The Daily Signal emphasizes that “the anger and frustration expressed by the president is not only justified, it’s long overdue. Through its support to the Taliban, the Haqqani network, and their militant allies, Pakistan has for over a decade consistently and critically undermined the U.S.-led effort to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan. In efforts to persuade Islamabad to abandon this nefarious ‘double game,’ the U.S. government has deployed a constant stream of diplomatic and economic carrots—including $33 billion in aid and ‘reimbursements’ since 2002—but virtually no sticks. Predictably, each attempt has failed. It turns out it’s quite difficult to change a country’s cost-benefit calculation when you’re unwilling to impose any costs.”
The U.S. State Department explains that “we are suspending security assistance, security assistance only, to Pakistan at this time until the Pakistani Government takes decisive action against groups, including the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network. We consider them to be destabilizing the region and also targeting U.S. personnel. The United States will suspend that kind of security assistance to Pakistan…The President announced his South Asia policy in August of 2017. You all remember that. He made it clear that no partnership can survive a country’s harboring of militants and terrorists who target U.S. service members and officials. It has been more than four months since the President’s speech, and despite a sustained high-level engagement by this administration with the Government of Pakistan, the Taliban and the Haqqani Network continue to find sanctuary inside Pakistan as they plot to destabilize Afghanistan and also attack U.S. and allied personnel…We have now worked closely with Pakistan against these groups. Now, just as we have made Pakistan’s enemies our own, we need Pakistan to deny safe haven to or lawfully detain those terrorists and militants who threaten U.S. interests. The United States stands ready to work with Pakistan in combatting all terrorists without distinction, and we hope to be able to renew and deepen our bilateral security relationship when Pakistan demonstrates its willingness to aggressively confront the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani Network, and other terrorist and militant groups that operate from within its country…So we will not be delivering military equipment or transfer security-related funds to Pakistan unless it is required by law. I think that part answers your questions. There may be some exemptions that are made on a case-by-base basis if they’re determined to be critical to national security interests.”
The Report Concludes Tomorrow