Washington, Sep 26 : Ninety percent of the current US assistance of two billion dollars a year to Pakistan goes to the military, a report has said. The report titled 'Pakistan: A perilous course', was unveiled at a meeting on Pakistan held at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
The panel of speakers was made up of Teresita Schaffer of the CSIS, Robert Oakley and Wendy Chamberlain, former US Ambassadors to Pakistan. Rick Barton, a former senior official of the Geneva-based UN High Commission, conducted the meeting for Refugees.
Barton, introducing the report said that Washington had an "over-dependence" on President Pervez Musharraf who is viewed as a "key partner".
| Because there are all sorts of choices in Pakistan; all sorts of people who can lead there. Obvious, huh ... |
Chamberlain said that the US aid should be focused on the people of Pakistan, rather than go to the military. This leads some to conclude that US aid is working against the people, not for them. "The stability of Pakistan is too important for the US and the region in which Pakistan is located," she said.
Chamberlain noted that in the wake of the October 2005 earthquake, America's approval rating in Pakistan shot up from 23 per cent to 45 per cent, but by January 2006, it had fallen to 15 per cent because of a US attack in the tribal area.
The US should support the democratic process in Pakistan, and not an individual, the Daily Times quoted Chamberlain, as saying.
Commenting on the current situation in Pakistan, Robert Oakley said that Musharraf threw open a Pandora's box, which he couldn't now close the lid on. He said Musharraf had put the army in deadly confrontation with the extremists in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and it had lost many lives.
Oakley expressed satisfaction over the "quiet cooperation" between the two countries in the nuclear area in Pakistan, which remains military-controlled, and "we should see that it continues." He also suggested that Washington should reconsider its opposition to the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline.
Teresita Schaffer said that the US should work "visibly" with "competing" leaders, and added that it must work for democracy, instead of latching on to one person. Turning to the possibility of an alliance between Musharraf and Bhutto, Schaffer said, "We are watching the last act of this drama." |