WASHINGTON, Aug 12: The United States cannot offer a blank cheque to Pakistan’s “undemocratic president,” says the US Democratic Party, signalling clearly that if Barack Obama is elected in November, the beleaguered Pakistani leader will not have an ally in the White House.
The document, known as the party platform, will be adopted at the Democratic National Convention on Aug 25 when delegates from across the United States will formally endorse Mr Obama as the party’s candidate for president.
“We will ask more of the Pakistani government, rather than offer a blank check to an undemocratic President,” says the document in a chapter titled, “Seek a new partnership with Pakistan.”
Emphasising the need for a long-term relationship with Pakistan, the document says: “We must move beyond an alliance built on individual leaders, or face mounting opposition in a nuclear-armed nation at the nexus of terror, extremism, and the instability wrought by autocracy.”
The document also supports a bipartisan move in the US Senate to offer a $15 billion aid package over the next 10 years.
“We will significantly increase non-military aid to the Pakistani people and sustain it for a decade, while ensuring that the military assistance we provide is actually used to fight extremists,” the document says.
The Democratic Party platform expresses serious concerns over the situation in Fata, warning that the United States cannot allow this area to become a sanctuary for terrorists.
“The greatest threat to security in Afghanistan and America lies in the tribal regions of Pakistan, where terrorists train and plot attacks and then strike and move back across the border,” the document claims.
“We cannot tolerate a sanctuary for Al Qaeda. We will ask more of the Pakistani government, rather than offer a blank cheque to an undemocratic President.”
To deal with this situation, the party suggests “a stronger and sustained partnership between Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Nato, including necessary assets like satellites and predator drones, to secure the border by wiping out terrorist camps and cracking down on cross-border insurgents.”
Asserting that the US should help Pakistan develop its own counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency capacity, the party says it will invest in the long-term development of the Pashtun border region so that the “the extremists’ programme of hate is met with an agenda of hope.”
The resolution states that the party would significantly increase non-military aid to the Pakistani people and sustain it for a decade, while ensuring that the military assistance provided is annually used to fight extremists.
The document announces that the Democratic administration will send at least two additional combat brigades to Afghanistan, and will use this commitment to seek greater contributions – with fewer restrictions – from America’s Nato allies.
“The central front in the war on terror is not Iraq, and it never was. We will defeat Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where those who actually attacked us on 9-11 reside and are resurgent.”
The party has also decided to formally call the decision to go to war with Iraq a “strategic blunder” but warns that the US should “be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in.”
Describing India as America’s “natural strategic ally,” the Democratic Party suggests that under the Presidency of Barack Obama the US will seek effective collaboration on pressing global issues with all major powers including New Delhi.
