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| Home Front: Politix |
| Lawmakers Tie Pakistani Aid To Release Of Hero Doctor |
| 2014-01-26 |
| [FoxNews] Lawmakers are attaching some strings to $33 million in aid to Pakistain, making the funds contingent on freeing the doctor who helped the CIA find the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now neither a strong horse nor a weak horse, but a dead horse... The GOP-controlled House Appropriations Committee inserted language that appears to withhold the foreign aid unless the State Department certifies Dr. Shakil Afridi is released from prison, where he's serving a 33-year sentence on a dubious conspiracy conviction. The condition left Pak officials fuming. "Any linkage of US assistance to this case is not in keeping with the spirit of cooperation between the two countries," said Pakistain Foreign Office spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam. President B.O. signed the bill on Jan. 17. As so-called omnibus legislation, it includes appropriations for all federal agencies, including the State Department. While the overall foreign aid appropriation would be left to the State Department to dole out, the Pakistain portion can be made conditional on a determination by Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you knowKerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat,conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... that Afridi has been released and cleared of all charges. The State Department has repeatedly decried Pakistain's treatment of Afridi, but officials did not say if Kerry is prepared to withhold the funding. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #8 The odds of the denial evaporating are pretty high, imnsho. But not necessarily because of a crisis; plain old establishment-Republican politics will do. I think the doc is relatively safe. I've a feeling the Paks would trade him for that crazy female "jihadi doc" the US has in custody, but neither side is ready to. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2014-01-26 18:48 |
| #7 So what's the odds that this denial of funding evaporates within the next 2 weeks when some other crisis d'jour pops up? And the good doctor has a tragic accident while still in Pak custody? |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2014-01-26 15:05 |
| #6 Exactly, if Pakistan's complicity with regard to the UBL mission is revealed, the "GM is alive - UBL is dead" meme, and all of the pre-election media and Hollywood drivel comes unraveled. Risked virtually all on the Abbattabad raid. Couldn't venture a low-level fly over during the Benghazi annex siege. Strange, very, very strange. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-01-26 13:26 |
| #5 The only way Congress can influence foreign affairs is through funding, or denial of funding. That said, Dr. Shakil Afridi isn't going to see daylight for years, if ever. The Klingons got their use out of him; State has more important things to worry about. Ensuring that green-measures like electric vehicle charging-stations are taking place at the 'better' embassies, for example. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2014-01-26 13:14 |
| #4 ...big surprise that the Paki's got their noses out of joint by our, in their eyes, interfering with their internal matters. Although I agree with the intent of the legislation, it would have been better to handle it in a less-public manner. With this preening a$$ of an SOS in charge of the task, however, I am compelled to agree with 'soeker... |
| Posted by: Uncle Phester 2014-01-26 12:35 |
| #3 then don't give them aid |
| Posted by: Frank G 2014-01-26 12:22 |
| #2 If Dr. Afridi is released, Pakistani loses plausible deniability. They desperately need an Abbattabad scapegoat. I hope I am wrong, but I do not see Afridi being freed anytime soon. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-01-26 12:14 |
| #1 Don't make us come over there! You know what happened last time. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2014-01-26 11:50 |