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Capitulating Terms Of The $4.5 Billion
US Aid To Pakistan

By Abdus Sattar Ghazali

05 October, 2009
Countercurrents.org

Major political parties of Pakistan have bitterly criticized the capitulating conditions attached to the $4.5 billion US aid to Pakistan under the Kerry-Lugar Bill passed by the Congress on September 4, 2009. Pakistan Muslim League, a leading political party led by a former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, described the conditionalities similar to the notorious Pakistan-specific Pressler’s amendment that was used as an arms twisting tool by the US administration.

The Secretary of State has to issue a certificate on some sensitive subjects before each installment of the US aid is to be disbursed. The Secretary of State, under the direction of the president, has to certify to the appropriate congressional committees that:

1. the Government of Pakistan is continuing to cooperate with the United States in efforts to dismantle supplier networks relating to the acquisition of nuclear weapons-related materials, such as providing relevant information from or direct access to Pakistani nationals (Read Abdul Qadeer Khan) associated with such networks;

2. the Government of Pakistan during the preceding fiscal year has demonstrated a sustained commitment to and is making significant efforts towards combating terrorist groups, consistent with the purposes of assistance described in section 201, including taking into account the extent to which the Government of Pakistan has made progress on matters such as:

(a) ceasing support, including by any elements within the Pakistan military or its intelligence agency, to extremist and terrorist groups, particularly to any group that has conducted attacks against United States or coalition forces in Afghanistan, or against the territory or people of neighbouring countries (Read India);

(b) preventing al-Qaeda, the Taliban and associated terrorist groups, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, from operating in the territory of Pakistan, including carrying out cross-border attacks into neighbouring countries, closing terrorist camps in the Fata, dismantling terrorist bases of operations in other parts of the country, including Quetta and Muridke, and taking action when provided with intelligence about high-level terrorist targets; and

(c) strengthening counter-terrorism and anti-money laundering laws; and

(3) the security forces of Pakistan are not materially and substantially subverting the political or judicial processes of Pakistan.

According to Shaheen Sehbai, editor of the leading Pakistani newspaper, The News, the language of these conditions is different but in essence the US demands are the same — give us AQ Khan, don’t finger India, forget Kashmir, close the terror shops of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammed and cooperate in the war on terror on our terms.

The more direct language against military intervention in political and judicial processes has apparently been added by the US legislators on the insistence of those Pakistanis who feel that the GHQ in Pindi is still creating hurdles in allowing the PPP to run its government as it likes, specially after the March 15 intervention to restore the judges, something which was taken as a direct affront to President Zardari who had over-committed himself not to restore the chief justice.

These conditions implied that (1) Pakistan is supporting terrorist groups. (2) It is involved in attacks on India. The Kerry-Lugar Bill particularly mentions that attacks outside of Pakistan that have been attributed to groups with Pakistani connections, including-- (i) the suicide car bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, which killed 58 people on June 7, 2008; and (ii) the massacre of approximately 165 people in Mumbai, India, including 6 United States citizens, in late November 2008. Clause relating to the nuclear issue is aimed at allowing US investigators access to individuals, such as AQ Khan, suspected of engaging in nuclear proliferation. It was reported in April 2008 that the US State Department reportedly proposed to the Pakistan Government to place one official permanently at the US embassy in Islamabad to deal with Pakistan’s nuclear issues, and also that the official would have direct access to Pakistans National Command Authority (NCA) Secretariat.

Clause related to effective civilian control over the armed forces is self explanatory. Apparently on behest of Washington in July 2008 Zardari government abortively tried to put the powerful military-run spy agency, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), under civilian control. After the Mombai attacks of December 2008, Senator Kerry called for putting the ISI under civilian control.

It is all the more intriguing that the conditionalities contain names of cities and towns from where the Government of Pakistan is required to uproot the alleged terrorist training camps. By doing so the US has formalized its allegations about presence of so-called terrorist training camps and also that Pakistan’s soil is being used for such activities against neighboring countries including India.

Tellingly, one billion dollars from the US aid to Pakistan is to be spent on upgrading US Embassy and Consulates.

It was revealed in May that the White House has asked Congress for $736 million to build a new U.S. embassy in Islamabad, along with permanent housing for U.S. government civilians and new office space in the Pakistani capital. The scale of the projects rivals the giant U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, which was completed last year after construction delays at a cost of $740 million.

McClatchy Newspapers quoted senior State Department officials said the expanded diplomatic presence is needed to replace overcrowded, dilapidated and unsafe facilities and to support a "surge" of civilian officials into Afghanistan and Pakistan ordered by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Other major projects are planned for Kabul, Afghanistan; and for the Pakistani cities of Lahore and Peshawar. In Peshawar, the U.S. government is negotiating the purchase of the Pearl Contintental is the city's only five-star hotel, that would house a new U.S. consulate.

In Islamabad, according to State Department budget documents, the plan calls for the rapid construction of a $111 million new office annex to accommodate 330 workers; $197 million to build 156 permanent and 80 temporary housing units; and a $405 million replacement of the main embassy building.

The U.S. government also plans to revamp its consular buildings in the eastern city of Lahore and in Peshawar. Peshawar is an important station for gathering intelligence on the tribal area that surrounds the city on three sides. The consulate in the southern mega city of Karachi has just been relocated into a new purpose-built accommodation.

"This is a replay of Baghdad," said Senator Khurshid Ahmad, a member of Pakistan's upper house of parliament for Jamaat-e-Islami, one of the country's two main religious political parties. "This (Islamabad embassy) is more (space) than they should need. It's for the micro and macro management of Pakistan, and using Pakistan for pushing the American agenda in Central Asia."

Makhdoom Javed Hashmi labeled the mega US embassy as a mini Pentagon in Islamabad.

On September 12, a petition has been filed in the Supreme Court of Pakistan seeking to restrain the Americans from getting further 18 acres of land over and above the 38 acres already acquired by them, for expansion of the US Embassy in Islamabad.

The petitioners, Watan Party and Barrister Zafarullah Khan, have also urged the Apex Court to prevent the Americans from hiring as many as 250 offices in Islamabad and that no diplomatic mission may be allowed to get on lease or through sale land more than the requirement of the diplomatic mission.

The lawyer further disclosed that Islamabad had provided the US with access to data of the country's telecom authority, from which information about Pakistani citizens could be attained. "The rights of Pakistani citizens are compromised. Such activities should be stopped," he demanded.

The petitioner argues that contrary to the trend, set by the age of communication, of cutting down the staff, America is extraordinarily enhancing the presence of its staff in Islamabad, which may also include 1000 marines with latest equipment, which may be a means to ‘bring us down on our knees’ and to ‘capture our nuclear facility’ so that Pakistan could get the same treatment the US meted out to South Korea, Taiwan, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

The capitulating terms for the new five year US aid to Pakistan came at a time when the Pakistani media is buzzing with stories about the operation of the ill-famed Blackwater mercenary army in Islamabad and Peshawar, the capital of North Western Frontier Province where the army has launched operations to contain militant insurgency.

The National Assembly Standing Committee for Human Rights on September 29 expressed serious concerns over presence of Blackwater and its secret activities in the country and constituted five-member committee under the leadership of PML-N leader Javed Hashmi to review the matter. Inspector General Islamabad Syed Kaleem Imam informed the committe that the US embassy has taken 240 houses on rent in the federal capital, while the officials of US security agency Black Water was giving training to Pakistani officials. North West Frontier Province Inspector General of Police Malik Naveed Khan told the meeting that 29 officials of US security agency DynCorp are residing in Peshawar.

Many people in Pakistan believe that Afghanistan, India, Israel and US are involved in the current turmoil and violence in the tribal areas of Northern Pakistan and Baluchistan to destabilize the country. This is reflected in opinion polls. A survey in August for Al Jazeera TV by Gallup Pakistan found that 59 percent of Pakistanis felt the greatest threat to the country was the United States. A separate survey in August by the Washington-based Pew Research Center, recorded that 64 percent of the Pakistani public regards the U.S. "as an enemy" and only 9 percent believe it to be a partner.

Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Executive Editor of online magazine American Muslim Perspective: www.amperspective.com He is the author of Islamic Pakistan: Illusions & Reality. Email: [email protected]

 


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