USA exploits Pakistan -By Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

USA exploits Pakistan

- By Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

(US-Pakistan Relations: From Insecurity to Insecurity–IV)

I

The Obama administration has recently completed a review of Washington’s Pakistan strategy assisting Pakistan in its endeavour to resume its journey to sustainable and equitable growth. The US Congress considered a bill of $1.5bn in the Kerry-Lugar bill that will triple aid appropriations to Pakistan for non-military economic development and another bill to set up Reconstruction Opportunity Zones in Fata. The US Congress on Oct 01 sanctioned non-military aid to Pakistan in appreciation of its services to NATO terror forces and in anticipation of future assistances in the genocides of Muslims. There is no doubt that the Obama administration wishes to demonstrate through this aid bill that the US is a long-term friend of Pakistan. Although the $ 1.5 billion annual aid is meant solely for the social and developmental sector, Biden aides reject the argument that money is fungible and infusion into social spending without oversight over military expenditure defeats the idea of rolling back Pakistani's militarization. The measure triples US democratic, economic, and social development assistance to Pakistan to 1.5 billion dollars a year, with a focus on health and education services.

Tied aid, in the form of procurement of goods and services sourced from the donor country, reduces the net benefits to the recipient country. USAID is particularly notorious in this respect as it is popularly believed that as many as 70 cents per aid dollar ends up in the hands of US-based private contractors, consultants, administrators and suppliers. There is the risk that Congress, think tanks, and the media use this as a stick against Pakistan every time they perceive that it is “not doing enough” in killing Muslims on payment basis.

Western media have tactfully published the news of aid to Pakistan known as the grant by Kerry-Lugar Bill with hidden tags inflicting upon the sovereignty and integrity of Islamabad. Pakistan's opposition senators have slammed the Kerry-Lugar Bill saying that it targets the country's nuclear weapons and urged the government to reject it as it was against the independence and sovereignty of Pakistan. Earlier, Pakistan's envoy to the US, Hussain Haqqani, had said the Kerry-Lugar Bill has no provision to restrict Islamabad's nuclear programme. Senator Raja Zafarul Haq said that the monitoring of the Pakistan Army and courts will pose a serious threat to national integrity. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that Pakistan would only react when the US President signs the proposed bill. He warned that many conditions attached with the bill may reflect US lack of trust. The problem is both, busy with outsmarting one another in killing Muslims, have lost trust in each other, their worthy positive calibre. If they had built the relationship of trust that Pakistan is seeking to build between the USA and Pakistan, many of these concerns on both sides will go away. But USA is eager to keep Pakistan tensed and under control.

India is keen USA invaded Pakistan officially so that it could play significant role there. Obama did not address the issue at any great length but suggested he would make sure U.S military aid to Pakistan needs to be targeted against terrorists, rather than India. He also rejected the idea that he supports a full blown invasion of Pakistan, based on his call for limited surgical strikes on terror targets if Islamabad fails to act. India, an emerging strategic ally, has pursued US should appoint not only auditors but inspectors also to see to it that there is no diversion of funds given to Pakistan. Indian media reported that as Democratic Presidential candidate Barack ObamaBarack Obama had said Pakistan was misusing US aid given for the war on terror to prepare for war against India on its eastern front. Bulk of the Republican and Democratic lobbyists working for India employed the coercive technique to make Pakistan kill more Muslims in desperation.

Under pressure from various anti-Islamic sources, including strategic India, the USA would be sending a high-level team to Pakistan to identify areas and projects for the utilization of the 1.5 billion dollar non-military aid under the Kerry-Lugar bill in order to make sure that the assistance is being used exactly for the purpose it is meant for. While Pakistan has been pushing for the grants to be given directly to the government, the Obama Administration maintains that it would be channelled through various non-government organizations (NGO's) and other agencies in order to prevent its misuse. The USA has also made it clear that the aid would be stringed with severe accountability measures. An office is also being set up in Islamabad to supervise and monitor the projects which would be launched for disbursing the assistance.

II

Thousands of Pakistani Muslims including hundreds of Pakistani soldiers have also been killed in the war on terror. This payment is just peanuts. This form of assistance hardly creates a significant number of jobs in the economy. Very few developing countries have made good use of their resources for the larger benefit of their populations. Government-to-government assistance results in the relaxation of domestic efforts to mobilise revenues. The US should finance only such infrastructure, education and health projects that are included in the government’s development program; easing access for the country’s textiles to American markets. Pakistan always expected helping hand from the US which leads the world in higher education and scientific and technological research.

Although many American experts, maybe for fun, call Pakistan an unreliable ally, the United States is Pakistan’s largest trading partner. Apart from regular drones killing Muslims to enable the US Congress to sanction to Islamabad, USA also offers aid to Pakistanis grants – mostly in military consignments. A top US diplomat in 2008 said the conclusion of a bilateral investment treaty with Pakistan would bolster economic and trade ties between the private sectors of the two countries. The two countries have been negotiating details to conclude the BIT in recent years and efforts in this respect are likely to advance as the new government seeks to expand international trade and economic opportunities for sustainable high growth.

Most Pakistanis are convinced that USA controls their lives, economy and security and their economy waxes and wanes with the rise and ebb of US assistance. Pakistanis do resent their economic fortune being controlled by the USA negatively and strong anti-American sentiments would be reinforced as a result. USA pretends visibly unhappy that Pakistanis are becoming anti-America and wants to contain that trend started during Musharraf’s era spearheaded by the opposition. Oppression of opposition during the Musharraf regime and other such heavy-handed tactics were seen as also to threaten to generate anti-American sentiment among those in Pakistan’s middle class and make them more prone to elect a leader hostile to Washington if a civilian-led democracy returns. Most of the protesters against Musharraf have been lawyers and human rights activists, rather than tribal militants. “Pakistan is vital to American national security, to regional security, and to U.S. objectives throughout the Muslim world," the CSIS report says. "There is no walking away." As democratically elected governments, in contrast to military dispensations, Pakistan may not always toe the US line though they are more vulnerable to the abrupt suspension of aid and the consequent economic dislocation.

III

Despite the US being a big ‘champion of democracy’, it has always used both aid and Pentagon to dictate terms to Pakistan and encouraged rampant corruption at the highest levels of administration. This policy is surely favourable to the USA, but has hampered the progress of Pakistan as a democratic state, where rule of the Constitution and a prime place for civilian leadership are to be ensured. Washington bullies Pakistan more often now than before and keeps reminding Islamabad that the tactical US-Pak alliance must not be taken for granted. However, in stead of assisting Islamabad in a positive manner, Americans keep reminding Pakistanis and world about their monetary and weapon assistance to Islamabad. Pakistan should not forget its past experiences dealing with both India and USA, now the emerging anti-Islamic strategic partners. But USA should not bully a weakened Islamabad. If the US has always been a fair-weather friend and influence policies, letting Pakistan its long-term policies get affected by US guidelines is not wise.

Indian weakness for extra weapons captures the attention of US military strategists and they want lucrative military trade with nuclear India. Both Republican and Democratic politicians are being wooed by India to contain and slam Pakistan. US Secretary of State Hillary ClintonHillary Clinton whose heart bleeds, occasionally, for fanatic Hindu India, has said the situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan tops the reasons the US is "advancing its relationship with India", accusing the Pakistani government of "abdicating to the Taliban" and warning that the deterioration of security in Pakistan poses a "mortal threat" to the US and the world. She warned that Pakistan is in danger of falling into “terrorist hands” (becoming a truly Islamic state) because of failed government policies.

At a time when Pak-US-China trio was expected to strengthen their ties, terrorism plank has shattered all equations Pakistan developed with them. India is moving very cautiously to court both USA and China in a big way using anti-Islamism and energy services as the dominant themes. Both USA and Pakistan should find a common language not against Islam and Muslims, but against colonialism, state terrorism and neo-imperialism. In case NATO and USA do not reform their terrorist policies in Islamic world, it is time Pakistan quit the anti-Islamic terror gangs led by USA guiding the Islamic world to follow suit, especially Saudi Arabia whose bureaucrats are involved in rampant corruption cases. Before it is too late and save the remaining population in the country. A state or nation that kills its people cannot uphold any civilized norms any where. India kills Muslims in India and Kashmir, but Pakistani rulers also killing Muslims in the country is ridiculous. But will Pakistan with pro-US and anti-Muslim hidden agendas leave the anti-Islamic coalition of Pentagon & Co?

An ally is not a slave- a fact both USA and Pakistan should keep in mind for the sake of saving the remaining Pakistanis. The Obama administration should be able to demonstrate to the Pakistanis that the US is a reliable ally that they can count on for the long term- and not just an Islamic blood taster. Commenting on a recent opinion poll which said 64 per cent of Pakistanis see US as their enemy, a former Bushdom ally, US defence secretary Gates said America needs to rebuild trust with Pakistan. A UK-based expert also claimed that Taliban and Al-Qaeda nationalists have attacked nuclear sites in Pakistan at least thrice in the last two years. However, Pakistan rubbished the reports and said there was "absolutely no chance" that the country's nuclear weapons could fall into non-US terrorist hands. Amidst US propaganda reports that Taliban and Al-Qaeda citizens have attacked nuclear sites in Pakistan, the US said it was "comfortable" with the level of security provided by the Pakistani forces at the facilities. Obviously, it is US media strategy to bluff and make hyped reports to bully a weakened Islamabad in all respects.

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By Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

Specialist on State Terrorism

India