US govt urged to focus on nation, not govt : Congressional report’s advice
By Anwar Iqbal
WASHINGTON, March 31: A Democratic-controlled Congress may pressure the Bush administration to review its Pakistan policy, refocusing it on forging a close relationship with the people rather than the government, says a congressional report made available to the media on Saturday.
In a report prepared for US lawmakers, the Congressional Research Service estimates that the United States has provided $4.75 billion of military assistance to Pakistan since 9/11, averaging more than $80 million per month.
The amount is equal to more than one-quarter of Pakistan’s total military expenditures and is almost 80 per cent of the US Defence Department spending for supporting the Washington-led coalition against terrorism.
However, the new Congress, elected in November when the Democrats wrested control of the legislature from the Republicans, wants the administration to “target US assistance programmes in such a way that they more effectively benefit the country’s citizens”, says the report.
The report notes that currently, funds are split roughly evenly between economic and security-related aid programmes, with most of the latter financing “big ticket” defence articles such as airborne early warning aircraft, and anti-ship and anti-armour missiles.
The report quotes analysts and congressional aides as suggesting that the US can “improve its image in Pakistan by making aid more visible to ordinary Pakistanis.”
The report notes that a task force of senior American South Asia watchers has recommended that the extent of US support for Islamabad should be linked to that government’s own performance in making Pakistan a more “modern, progressive and democratic state”.
“Specifically, the task force urged directing two-thirds of US aid to economic programmes and one-third to security assistance, and conditioning increases in aid amounts to progress in Pakistan’s reform agenda,” the report says.
While discussing various recent perspectives on US-Pakistan relations, the report notes that the United States has given President Musharraf “considerable slack” in meeting his commitments to deal with domestic extremism or his promises to restore authentic democracy.
According to the CRS, analysts believes “the US partnership with Pakistan would probably be on firmer footing through conditioned programmes more dedicated to building the country’s political and social institutions than rewarding its leadership.”
The report also notes that policy makers in the Bush administration disagree with this suggestion. But the report points out that “the outcomes of US policies toward Pakistan since 9/11 have neither neutralised anti-Western militants nor have they contributed to the stabilisation of Afghanistan.”
