U.S. pays $1 billion to Paskistan to fight terror, but military increasingly supporting Taliban

[ProSense]

U.S. Pays Pakistan to Fight Terror, but Patrols Ebb

John Moore/Getty Images

A Pakistani soldier near the border with Afghanistan. Pakistan has reduced its counterterrorism patrols.

WASHINGTON, May 19 — The United States is continuing to make large payments of roughly $1 billion a year to Pakistan for what it calls reimbursements to the country’s military for conducting counterterrorism efforts along the border with Afghanistan, even though Pakistan’s president decided eight months ago to slash patrols through the area where Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are most active.

The monthly payments, called coalition support funds, are not widely advertised. Buried in public budget numbers, the payments are intended to reimburse Pakistan’s military for the cost of the operations. So far, Pakistan has received more than $5.6 billion under the program over five years, more than half of the total aid the United States has sent to the country since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, not counting covert funds.

Some American military officials in the region have recommended that the money be tied to Pakistan’s performance in pursuing Al Qaeda and keeping the Taliban from gaining a haven from which to attack the government of Afghanistan. American officials have been surprised by the speed at which both organizations have gained strength in the past year.

But Bush administration officials say no such plan is being considered, despite new evidence that the Pakistani military is often looking the other way when Taliban fighters retreat across the border into Pakistan, ignoring calls from American spotters to intercept them. There is also at least one American report that Pakistani security forces have fired in support of Taliban fighters attacking Afghan posts.

<...>

After visiting Pakistan last year, Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, wrote in a report that the Defense Department’s military office in Islamabad, the capital, recommended changing the aid program so that it was “paying for specific objectives that are planned and executed, rather than simply paying what the country bills.” A senior military official engaged in battling the Taliban said many commanders and diplomats in the region agreed with that recommendation.

more

Yeah, Sen. Reed, but let's keep funding the clusterfuck in Iraq:

"In one of the most troubling trends, U.S. officials said al-Qaida's command base in Pakistan increasingly is being funded by cash from Iraq..."

[Donkeykick]

1. Just another great way to waste even more US. Dollars

$$$$$$! :eyes:

[Deja Q]

2. If Pakistan is helping the Taliban, they are an enemy. Why are WE helping them?

President Bush made the original comments. This development won't do him much good. Especially if the FDA allows contaminated food to kill pets and endanger our lives (anything with wheat gluten is apparently imported from cheapo China), where will they get their army from?

[emilyg]

4. Because shrub is a fool

[Brassballs]

3. Pakistan has fooled Americans into sending BILLIONS

in foreign aid for deacades. Pakistan will hand over a token
AL Qaeda / Taliban operative once in a while to keep the dollars
coming. 90% of Pakistani's are true islamists and hate all non-muslims.