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| India-Pakistan |
| Haggling Over How Much To Steal |
| 2011-07-12 |
| A large chunk (over a fifth) of the $20 billion the U.S. has given to Pakistan since September 11, 2001 has been stolen. Now the U.S. is holding back nearly a billion dollars in aid. The $800 million being withheld is largely for "reimbursements" for what the Pakistani military has spent to fight terror groups. Audits have revealed that this is where much of the theft takes place. So holding back this money will do the least harm to the Pakistani military effort (such as it is) and the most damage to the corrupt officers who steal American aid. Pakistani politicians are already upset that the $3 billion in American aid for the next year is mainly going to the military, and comes with strings (cut corruption, tax the rich, who often pay nothing at all). The U.S. is the largest aid donor, but all this pressure to attack Islamic radicals and stop diverting aid to private use is annoying to Pakistani officials. Ironically, when accused of corruption, Pakistanis react by denouncing Americans for attacking Pakistani honor. Meanwhile, Pakistani officials insist that negotiations continue with the United States. What is not said that these talks are basically about how much the U.S. will allow to be stolen, in return for how much effort Pakistani will actually, or pretend, to make against Islamic terror groups. Pakistan's rulers are not concerned about how well they can run the country, but with how thoroughly they can plunder it. For example, Pakistan's government budget for next year has been set at $29.1 billion. A third of this is borrowed or gifts from foreign nations (mainly the U.S.). Pakistan is the second largest recipient of American foreign aid, but about a third of the annual aid is not being spent because no one honest enough to handle the aid can be found in Pakistan. |
| Posted by:Eohippus Phater7165 |
| #6 Pakistan may be mostly pro-Saudi + pro-Sunni, + Islamist, but its just as ambitious as Shia Iran in wanting to be a "great power", to include Nuclear Superpower, + is willing to compete agz same to do so. AGAIN, the GWOT is as much a INTER-MUSLIM STRUGGLE FOR POWER + INFLUENCE AS AGZ ANY + ALL NON-ISLAM. "Jasmine" Uprisings in ME, North AFrica = ITS NOT JUST THE US-VS-RISING-CHINA ANYMORE. Unlike Iran, PAK ALREADY HAS A RELIABLE, PRE-EXISTING NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARSENAL IN QUANTITY, which is what Radical Islam desires - NOT FOR AGZ THE US-WEST AT THIS TIME, BUT MORE AGZ RUSSIA, CHINA, + INDIA, ETC. EAST-SOUTH ASIAN STATES. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2011-07-13 00:07 |
| #5 Copper is too valuable to waste on these goblins, send weapons grade plutonium instead, properly packaged of course. |
| Posted by: Secret Asian Man 2011-07-12 21:13 |
| #4 Warthog is correct - the "penny from the top of the Empire State Building meme is bad" The only way that works is ballistically shaped to reduce drag and flutter. I'm OK with that, in sufficiently large caliber |
| Posted by: Frank G 2011-07-12 21:01 |
| #3 naw..a penny - or any other falling body - will quickly reach terminal velocity no matter how high after that. the shape will want to slice through the air edge on but will flutter back and forth slowing the speed quite a lot. No doubt it would leave a mark on the concrete...but bury itself 4 ft. don't think so...if it did we'd use them like bunker busters.... ;) |
| Posted by: Warthog 2011-07-12 20:33 |
| #2 Drop the $800 million in pennies from high-flying BUFFs over the Tribal Agencies. Let Pakistan dig it out of the ground there, after it's turned the area into a sieve. I don't know exactly what the terminal velocity of a penny is when released from 40,000 feet, but one dropped from the Empire State building is supposed to be capable of imbedding four feet into concrete. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2011-07-12 17:12 |
| #1 Let's see...one fifth is more like twenty percent, isn't it? |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2011-07-12 14:45 |