Beggars Can’t Be choosers
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
19 October, 2009
Countercurrents.org
Brushing aside concerns about the Kerry-Logar legislation as misinterpretation, Washington has rejected Pakistan’s popular demand to bring any change to the capitulating conditions attached to $7.5 billion aid to the beleaguered nation. Instead, Senator John Kerry, Senator Richard Lugar and Congressman Berman issued a five-page Explanatory Statement to facilitate, what it called, accurate interpretation of the text of the law that has fueled more hatred against Washington. President Barack Obama signed the controversial legislation - the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009 - on Thursday without fanfare.
The explanatory note attached to the Kerry-Lugar legislation in the face of bitter criticism by the Army and all major Pakistani political parties except the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, does not change the contents of the legislation. Nor is it in any way binding because it cannot override the provisions of the US Federal Law. It is a sort of letter of intent which legally has no force of law behind it.
President Zardari’s government has accepted the Explanatory Statement amid a wide rift between the popular view against the Kerry-Lugar legislation and the Washington’s client government in Islamabad. While there is a widespread rejection of the Kerry-Lugar legislation within Pakistan as it is generally considered as anti-Pakistan, the Presidency has insisted that it has nothing against the national interests and sovereignty of the country.
On October 8, Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said that the President Asif Ali Zardari as well as the Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani did not consider the Kerry-Lugar Bill as being against Pakistan’s national interests. Babar justified the US legislation by saying: What the US Congress demanded was even part of the Charter of Democracy, which too asked for civilian control over the security institutions.
Offensive conditions of the so-called Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009
The Secretary of State has to issue a certificate on some sensitive subjects before each installment of the US aid is to be disbursed. Under Section 302, every 180 days through September 30, 2014, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that describes the assistance provided under this Act during the preceding 180-day period. The report shall include an evaluation of efforts undertaken by the Government of Pakistan to:
(A) disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other extremist and terrorist groups in the FATA and settled areas; (B) eliminate the safe havens of such forces in Pakistan; (C) close terrorist camps, including those of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed; (D) cease all support for extremist and terrorist groups; (E) prevent attacks into neighboring countries; (F) increase oversight over curriculum in madrassas, including closing madrassas with direct links to the Taliban or other extremist and terrorist groups.
Under Section 302A (12) the report should also include a detailed description of Pakistan’s efforts to prevent proliferation of nuclear-related material and expertise. And Under Section 302A (13), an assessment of whether assistance provided to Pakistan has directly or indirectly aided the expansion of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, whether by the diversion of United States assistance or the reallocation of Pakistan’s financial resources that would otherwise be spent for programs and activities unrelated to its nuclear weapons program;
Sub-clause (15) of the same section also calls for an assessment of the extent to which the Government of Pakistan exercises effective civilian control of the military, including a description of the extent to which civilian executive leaders and parliament exercise oversight and approval of military budgets, the chain of command, the process of promotion for senior military leaders, civilian involvement in strategic guidance and planning, and military involvement in civil administration.
Regional security strategy issue is another offensive issue. Under section 301B (2), the President shall develop a comprehensive interagency regional security strategy …. by working with the Government of Pakistan and other relevant governments and organizations in the region and elsewhere. According to Member of Parliament Marvi Menon, it is exactly this kind of regional strategy that will be in conflict with Pakistan’s national security interests since it could include Indian intelligence agency RAW, Israeli spy agency MOSSAD and many other unfriendly groups and organizations.
Army expresses concern
On October 7, 2009, the Army high command expressed concern that the US law is highly intrusive in nature and will have serious implications on national security.
The main areas where army had expressed its reservations are the inclusion of a clause under which an assessment was required on whether assistance provided to Pakistan was going directly or indirectly to aid the expansion of its nuclear weapons’ program. The army says that the language used in the bill would amount to the capping of the nuclear program.
Concern has also been expressed over the requirement of certification that Pakistan has made progress in preventing cross-border attacks and whether it has dismantled the alleged terrorist basses in Quetta and Muridke.
And another serious reservation was on the clause related to civilian control of the military’s promotions and other related matters that were totally unacceptable to the military commanders.
The Army conveyed its concern to the United States when Commander of International Forces in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal met Army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani at the GHQ in Rawalpindi on October 6. General Kayani told General McChrystal that like the Pakistani people, the military and intelligence services were furious at the observations made on Pakistan’s security establishment in the Kerry-Lugar legislation.
Why the Pakistan Army-specific conditions in the Kerry-Lugar legislation?
The more direct language against military intervention in political and judicial processes has apparently been added by the US legislators on the insistence of the present government of President Zardari through his ambassador in Washington, Husain Haqqani who has been critical of the army and ISI while staying in US since 2002.
One could find the details of all the Army-specific conditions, mentioned in the Kerry Lugar legislation, in Haqqani’s book “Pakistan between Mosque and Military” which was published in 2006 before his appointment as ambassador. “The United States must use its aid as a lever to influence Pakistan’s domestic policies.” Washington should no longer condone the Pakistani military’s support of Islamic militants, its use of its intelligence apparatus for controlling domestic politics, and its refusal to cede power to a constitutional democratic government,” the book states in one of its chapters.
“Unlike governments in other Muslim countries like Egypt and Turkey, Pakistan’s government - particularly its military - has encouraged political and radical Islam, which otherwise has a relatively narrow base of support,” Haqqani wrote.
The book also stresses on the fact that the United States can contain the Islamic influence by asking Pakistan for certain reforms with regard to the Army and other security forces. “The United States can help contain the Islamists’ influence by demanding reform of those aspects of Pakistan’s governance that involve the military and security services. Until now, the United States has harshly berated corrupt or ineffective Pakistani politicians but has only mildly criticized the military’s meddling.”
He says: “Washington should no longer condone the Pakistani military’s support of Islamic militants, its use of its intelligence apparatus for controlling domestic politics, and its refusal to cede power to a constitutional democratic government.”
At another place Haqqani says: “Because Washington has attached a few conditions to US aid, the spending patterns of Pakistan’s government have not changed significantly. The country’s military spending continues to increase...”
Not surprisingly, Husain Haqqani is in hot waters as he remained the focus of speeches of members from opposition benches in Pakistan’s National Assembly and the Senate during the debate on the US law. A number of opposition parliamentarians have demanded his resignation. However, the Foreign Policy magazine has reported that Haqqani is contemplating going public with embarrassing Pakistani official documents that he laid his hands on during his official capacity as ambassador if he was fired from his job for playing a deliberate role in inserting anti-military and nuclear-related clauses in the Kerry-Lugar legislation.
Only 15 percent Pakistanis accept the US aid package
Tellingly only 15 percent of Pakistanis support accepting the US aid package, according to a Gallup Pakistan survey released on Wednesday. Barely a quarter of the 2,500 Pakistanis polled believe the $7.5 billion US aid will improve the ordinary lives of the people.
According to Senator Tariq Aziz, given rapid inflation in Pakistan and the way huge chunks of foreign aid actually pass back to the United States through contractor salaries, the real purchasing power of the aid will diminish to roughly $200 million a year. Tellingly, under Section 101(2) of the legislation, up to $10 million will be spent every year to meet administrative expenses of civilian departments and agencies of the United States Government in connection with the provision of the assistance. At the same time $5 million will be provided to the Chief of US Mission in Pakistan to be spent on its discretion. $150 million has to be spent on training and equipping of the Pakistani police.
There is now a general impression in Pakistan that the United States continues to support and fund separatist movements in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), parts of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Balochistan. There is continued hostility of the United States towards the Armed Forces and Intelligence Agencies of Pakistan, as well as the spread of disinformation regarding the Nuclear Assets of Pakistan. It is widely believed that the ultimate U.S goals is to destroy Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons and to exert complete control over the military institutions of Pakistan and the Kerry-Lugar legislation reinforces these apprehensions.
There is now a general popular impression in Pakistan that the ultimate U.S goals is to destroy Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons and to exert complete control over the military institutions of Pakistan. The United States remains towards the Armed Forces and Intelligence Agencies of Pakistan, while spreading disinformation regarding the Nuclear Assets of Pakistan. It is also widely believed that the United States supports and funds separatist movements in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), parts of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Balochistan. The Kerry-Lugar legislation reinforces these apprehensions.
Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Executive Editor of the online magazine American Muslim Perspective: www.amperspective.com Email: [email protected]
