US reviews priorities of ($7.5Billion) Kerry-Lugar-Berman Bill (for Pakistan's reconstruction)

[Turborama]

Source: PTI Via MSN

Lalit K Jha -

Washington, Aug 24 (PTI) With Pakistan reeling under the worst floods in decades, the Obama Administration and key Congressional leaders have started a process to review and reassess the priorities in the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Bill that allocated USD 7.5 billion to Islamabad in five years. With Pakistan seeking more international aid in view of the devastating floods that affected more than 20 million people, officials and Congressional aides are now considering options of allocating more money under the Bill.

Much lies at the hands of powerful Senator John Kerry -Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a key architect of the bill, who recently returned from Pakistan after having a first hand experience of the flood situation.

"We have to really see what the needs are. The Kerry-Lugar-Berman money will overwhelmingly be used for recovery and reconstruction as opposed to the immediate relief issues. So as the scope and nature of the recovery and reconstruction needs are known, we have a better sense of how we can redirect some of that money," Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Dan Feldman, said.

The official, who accompanied Kerry on his trip to Afghanistan last week, said US is still assessing on the Kerry-Lugar-Berman process. "What we''ve tried to do is identify funding that was already going to be used that can just be redirected as quickly as possible. So already, livelihoods programs, clinics, immunisation programs, rebuilding schools, that was already on the books, much of it in these areas already which we can just try to facilitate as quickly as possible," Feldman said.

The process is ongoing, and obviously, US doesn''t want to detract from the core mission of Kerry-Lugar-Berman, which was looking at these five or six key sectors on infrastructure, agriculture, water, health, education, along with the right balance of kind of the high-impact, high-visibility projects, the official said.

"So that assessment will continue to go on as we see what evolves on the ground," Feldman added.

Read more: http://news.in.msn.com/international/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4297848

[sabrina 1]

1. Interesting, they had already allocated money to help

Pakistan. So what is the big deal with helping the flood victims?

Thanks Turborama for keeping up with this story.

K & R

[karynnj]

13. The money is for specifuc uses and there would need to be

agreement in changing that. The K/L/B bill added very tough accountability and transparency rules (compared to earlier bills) because a study of 2002-2008 funds showed that a huge proportion were not used as intended.

Here is a Newsweek analysis of the goals of that bill from when it was proposed - http://www.newsweek.com/2009/10/09/pakistan-s-fickle-ally.html

At the time, Pakistan was angry over the accountability requirements. Possibly because he learned how myths become CW in the US, Kerry wrote a very nice facts vs myths on this bill that a major Pakistan paper printed back then. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/04-Myths-and-facts-Kerry-Lugar-bill-qs-02

My thanks to Tuborama as well.

[msongs]

2. seems like flood relief would do more to counter balance the taliban than drone murde...strikes nt

[OhioChick]

3. +1000 n/t

[Vehl]

4. the timing of the drone strikes are really strange though

Its as if someone is deliberately trying to ensure that America will not gain any goodwill in that region.

I'm not one for tinfoil hat conspiracy theories...but what if there are some rouge right wing-nut elements who want the war to continue on for ever and ever...which would mean more $$$ for their corporate counterparts

[Turborama]

11. I'm not one, either

For tinffoil hat CTs, that is.

But after witnessing what's been going on since the election and doing some research it seems like there could be some darker forces trying to jeopardize the current administration's achievements than the obvious ones like Beck, Bachmann, Palin et al:

First there's this which is currently at the top of the Greatest Page: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4514591">Covert Operations:The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama.

Those are the Koch brothers, the same Koch brothers I talked about here in my DK diary back in Sept last year: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/9/9/779019/-Big-Oil-Lobbyist-Was-Behind-the-Van-Jones-Witch-Hunt">"Big Oil" Lobbyist Was Behind the Van Jones Witch Hunt

And a DU OP I posted at the same time: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8632338">OK, I've found out that it was a "big oil" lobbyist behind the Van Jones smear campaign


And now there's this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8993276">"Is FOX News a Terrorist Command Center?" (Daily Show Video & Related Article

&

http://mediamatters.org/research/201008130015">Media Matters REPORT: Fox provides megaphone to NYC mosque opponents

&

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8992753">Rupert Murdoch and Fox News are in business with "Terror Mosque" Imam's Principal Patrons

And finally there's this (check out post #21 to see the conclusion I'm starting to come to):

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8976871">Faux Is Very Dangerous! Their Propaganda War On Islam Is Broadcast Unfiltered ALL OVER THE WORLD

I know they may well fit together, but it's giving me a headache trying work out how...

[Lightning Count]

16. So is the POTUS just a figurehead, or is he just inept?

I doubt any of this takes place without his knowledge.

[pampango]

15. Well said. n/t

[Kringle]

5. Pak, 1500 dead, 7.5 billion,,, Haiti, 200,000 dead, 466 million

Haiti needs a nuclear weapons program

[JI7]

6. this bill was made before the floods, it's not aid for floods, but because of what happened

it's clear some of that should go towards the disaster from the floods.

[Turborama]

10. Good points, nice and succinctly made n/t

[Turborama]

7. Haiti, an earthquake that destroyed a city which needs rebuilding.

Pakistan, a devastating flood that started 3 weeks ago, is still going on and is still destroying a country.

Comparing numbers of dead people to try and prove a tangential point is actually a bit morbid at best and just plain sick at worst.

The monetary figures you're comparing isn't meant to bring the unfortunate people who perished in these natural disasters back to life. It's for reconstruction of the areas that were impacted.


I'll come back with some actual statistics for you to chew on, shortly...

[OhioChick]

8. 1836 people lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina ....

And we have a nuclear weapons program.

China and India have also lost many lives due to natural disasters and have nuclear weapons programs.

[Turborama]

9. The Kerry-Lugar-Berman money will overwhelmingly be used for recovery and reconstruction

The Kerry-Lugar-Berman money will overwhelmingly be used for recovery and reconstruction as opposed to the immediate relief issues.

You should read the whole article instead of just the title of the thread. Also, "reviews priorities" in the title itslef is a big give-away as to what the article is about.

[karynnj]

14. The US gave Haiti money as well

In addition, there was a major private effort to raise money. The UN put Bill Clinton in charge - you can't get more serious than that - given who he is - in terms of his connections, his foundation and his ability to draw attention to the problem, not to mention his skills and intelligence. It is VERY hard to make a believable case that Haiti was ignored.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. Pay the Black Farmers HERE their $1.2 billion before you allocate any more money elsewhere. n/t

[politicasista]

17. delete n/t

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